Federal Appeals Court Allows Email Interception

BOSTON — A federal appeals court ruling this week could open the door to further interpretations of the federal Wiretap Act that could erode personal privacy rights.

In a decision by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with potentially profound implications, the court upheld a federal judge's dismissal last year of a wiretapping charge against a former Interloc vice president, Branford C. Councilman.

The government said that Interloc, a now-defunct online seller of rare books, tried to exploit the Amazon emails "to develop a list of books, learn about competitors and attain a commercial advantage."

Councilman had directed employees to write computer code to intercept and copy all incoming emails from Amazon.com to Interloc's subscribers — all prior to the eventual delivery of email messages to their intended recipients, the book dealers who had an email account with Interloc.

The government charged Councilman with conspiracy to violate the Wiretap Act; namely, to intercept an electronic communication and disclose its contents.

But Councilman argued that no violation of the Wiretap Act had occurred because the emails were copied while in "electronic storage."

He claimed the messages were in the process of being routed through a network of servers to recipients.

Because such messages were in "electronic storage," they were not intercepted for purposes of the Wiretap Act, Judge Juan R. Torruella wrote for the majority of the appeals panel.

The court said that messages in storage, however "temporary" or "intermediate" such storage might be, are not protected as electronic communications under the Wiretap Act.

In Tuesday’s dissenting opinion, Judge Kermit V. Lipez of the Boston-based 1st Circuit wrote that upholding Councilman's arguments "would undo decades of practice and precedent regarding the scope of the Wiretap Act and would essentially render the act irrelevant to the protection of wire and electronic privacy."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation immediately denounced the ruling, saying in a statement that the court "dealt a grave blow to the privacy of Internet communications."

Jerry Berman, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said he thinks the ruling “violates the letter and spirit of the statute," and that the ruling makes it acceptable for companies that offer email service to surreptitiously track subscribers' messages.

"It puts all of our electronic communications in jeopardy — voice mail, email, you name it," he said.

The case is United States vs. Councilman, No. 03-1383

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Justices Alito, Thomas Invoke Victorian-Era Morality Law, Raising Censorship Concerns

Several national publications reported this week on widespread concern among Free Speech advocates after U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas repeatedly invoked during a hearing the infamous segregation-era law the Comstock Act, which was the cornerstone of U.S. censorship of sexual material from the 1870s until the 1970s.

Skinfluential Management's FansFuel Acquires Fanwire

Creator stats and affiliate marketing platform FansFuel has acquired creator account management tool Fanwire.

Nebraska AV Bill Moves Forward Despite Privacy, Free Speech Concerns

Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature has given first-round approval to LB 1092, the state’s version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.

AEBN Celebrates 25th Anniversary

The Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network (AEBN) is celebrating its 25th year in business this week.

Performers in Meta Blacklisting Lawsuit Seek to Preserve Antitrust Claims

Adult Performance Artists Guild board officers Alana Evans, Kelly Pierce and Ruby have informed a California court that, although they want to drop their lawsuit claiming that Meta conspired with OnlyFans to blacklist rival premium fan platforms’ talent, they may still pursue antitrust claims in the future.

FSC, Co-Plaintiffs to Ask US Supreme Court to Review Constitutionality of Texas Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and its co-plaintiffs in the challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law have petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to stay its recent decision upholding the law, because they intend to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law’s constitutionality.

FSC Vows to Fight Florida Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has issued a statement vowing to continue fighting Florida’s new age verification law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday as part of a comprehensive bill targeting minors’ use of social media.

Kansas Republican Aims to Create New Bureaucracy to 'Investigate' Porn Websites

Republican state legislators succeeded Monday in moving forward Kansas’ version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists, despite serious concerns raised by House Democrats about the cost of establishing a new bureaucracy tasked with investigating websites for pornographic content.

SK Intertainment Launches 'Skinfluential Management' Agency, FansFuel Joint Venture

Mr. Skin/Mr. Man parent company SK Intertainment has launched new creator agency Skinfluential Management, as well as a new joint venture with Showbizz Media's creator stats and affiliate marketing platform, FansFuel.

Industry Attorney, Free Speech Champion Clyde DeWitt Passes Away at 75

Noted industry attorney Clyde DeWitt passed away on Friday in Las Vegas at 75, according to friends and colleagues.

Show More