Court: E-mail providers can read messages

According to his 2001 indictment, Councilman directed employees to write computer code to intercept and copy all incoming e-mails from Amazon.com to Interloc’s subscribers, who were dealers seeking buyers for rare and out-of-print books. Amazon.com did not then offer used books, but offered customers help in tracking down rare books.

The government alleged that Interloc tried to exploit the Amazon e-mails “to develop a list of books, learn about competitors and attain a commercial advantage.”

But Councilman argued that no violation of the Wiretap Act had occurred because the e-mails were copied while in “electronic storage” — the messages were in the process of being routed through a network of servers to recipients.

The wiretapping law broadly protects eavesdropping on messages that are not stored — such as an unrecorded phone conversation — but does not afford the same legal protections to stored messages. The 1968 law was amended in 1986 to address emerging computer technologies.

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The Liberal Puke said:

Did anybody say " D O U B L E - S T A N D A R D "

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