On August 5, 2019 at 19:02 valdis.kletnieks@vt.edu (Valdis Klētnieks) wrote:
Hint: The DMCA has the text about data stored on ISP servers because many ISPs aren't mere conduits. And this thread got started regarding a CDN, which is very much all about storing data on servers.....
I acted as an expert witness for the FBI regarding a case which revolved around whether email spending time on intermediate servers is "storing" the data or is it just another form of wire transmission? I don't think they came to a definitive conclusion, the case was basically settled out of court, plea-bargained I think, it was a criminal matter. But needless to say, once again, a non-legal-expert's reading of "storing data on servers" doesn't amount to a hill of beans in the legal world. It turned out to be very important at least in theory since illegally intercepting a wire transmission falls under a completely different law than illegally accessing stored data, the defendant was arguing that he'd been charged under the wrong law, and the court agreed it was a valid point to investigate. So my phone rang and I tried to help with the part of that (technical) I knew something about, how internet email is transmitted etc. But I was briefed on the legal aspects to help me focus on what they needed and I agreed it isn't /prima facie/ obvious. For example you may see storing of email (which may not even mean to a physical disk) during transmission through intermediate servers as "storing of data" but then again many network devices have various buffering mechanisms in which data might reside for some amount of time. Are they legally distinguishable? Should they be? etc. -- -Barry Shein Software Tool & Die | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: +1 617-STD-WRLD | 800-THE-WRLD The World: Since 1989 | A Public Information Utility | *oo*