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Article: E-Mail Spying May Not Violate the Wiretap Act.
- Article from:
- Mondaq Business Briefing
- Article date:
- October 8, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Mondaq Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Article by Cynthia A. Casby (Los Angeles)
Originally published September 30, 2004
The First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in June, 2004 that it is not a violation of Title I of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), commonly known as the Wiretap Act, for an e-mail provider to peruse customer e-mail in search of business opportunities, even before the customers received their e-mail. The ECPA is divided into two parts, the Wiretap Act and the Stored Communications Act.1 The Wiretap Act imposes criminal penalties for intercepting or endeavoring to intercept any wire, oral, or electronic communication.
In the case of U.S. v. ...