;Date 14 Nov 92 00:17:28 From: Mike Laster@1:125/33 To: All@1:125/111 Subject: Some info I found out Options: ;Status: (read 2 times) ;MSGID: 1:170/109 2b044655 I was asking about the topic of privacy at the Electric Freedom Foundation and here's a response I got. I figured I'd post it here for everybody's info: =============================================================================== Return-Path: Received: from eff.org by ohm.ee.utulsa.edu (4.1/SMI-DDN(15oct91)) id AA06729; Thu, 12 Nov 92 13:27:52 CST Received: from [192.77.172.119] (hayes.eff.org) by eff.org with SMTP id AA21206 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4/pen-ident for ); Thu, 12 Nov 1992 14:29:32 -0500 Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 14:29:32 -0500 Message-Id: <199211121929.AA21206@eff.org> To: lasterm@ohm.ee.utulsa.edu (Mike Laster) From: ssteele@eff.org Subject: Re: BBS Law newsgroup Status: R Hi Mike. Actually, it seems pretty clear that a SysOp who is part of a network has an obligation to pass private mail without reading it. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act says that no one can read a private message sent over a public system (and a BBS with a published phone number and offering access to the general public is a public system) without the message creator's permission (or a search warrant). A network node merely passing messages not originated from or enroute to his or her own board may not read those messages. While courts haven't decided it yet, the law is pretty clear on its face. On an individual board, a SysOp can get permission to read the messages by posting a notice indicating that messages may be read. Then anyone still choosing to leave a message is consenting to the monitoring by the SysOp. But, unless the SysOp had reason to know that there was illegal activity taking place on his/her board and did nothing to stop it, the SysOp will most likely not be held liable for illegal messages. Hope this helps. Shari --- GoldED 2.40 * Origin: Sociopathic Apathy: I'd kill you if I cared... (1:170/109) SEEN-BY: 11/2 13/13 101/1 109/25 114/5 123/19 124/1 125/20 28 33 40 111 125 SEEN-BY: 125/180 1212 203/1 23 205/10 209/209 280/1 390/1 396/1 ;PATH: 170/109 610 387/800 823 170/400 209/209 396/1 203/23 125/125 33