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Article: E-Mail Hacking Case Could Redefine Online Privacy [Correction 8/13/ 08]
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 6, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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A federal appeals court in California is reviewing a lower
court's definition of "interception" in the digital age, in a case
that some legal experts say could weaken consumer privacy
protections online.
The case, Bunnell v. Motion Picture Association of America,
involves a hacker who in 2005 broke into a file-sharing company's
server and obtained copies of company e-mails as they were being
transmitted. He then e-mailed 34 pages of the documents to an MPAA
executive, who paid the hacker $15,000 for the job, according to
court documents.
The issue boils down to the judicial definition of an intercept
in the electronic age, in which packets of data move from server to
server, alighting for ...