In message <20010320192341.A26277@eiv.com>, Shawn McMahon writes:
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On Tue, Mar 20, 2001 at 06:47:31PM -0500, Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu wrote:
=20
Especially those who've read the 1986 law requiring it. =20 Citation, please?
Title 18, Chapter 119, sections 2510 through 2522.
It forbids "interception" of electronic mail.
Interception is defined as "acquiring the contents", but it's defined broadly enough that if you get the message onto your hard drive and don't deliver it, obviously you weren't acquiring it for the purpose of delivering it, so you have intercepted it for reasons not related to providing the service, and thus have committed a felony for EACH email intercepted.
That's a preposterous interpretation. 18 USC 2511(2)(a)(i) says: It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for an operator of a switchboard, or an officer, employee, or agent of a provider of wire or electronic communication service, whose facilities are used in the transmission of a wire or electronic communication, to intercept, disclose, or use that communication in the normal course of his employment while engaged in any activity which is a necessary incident to the rendition of his service or to the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that service, except that a provider of wire communication service to the public shall not utilize service observing or random monitoring except for mechanical or service quality control checks. See http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2511.html. In other words, reception of the mail is legal, since that's a necessary part of the service delivery, and given how much load spam places on ISPs rejecting it is permissible as protecting the property of the service provider. As for the last clause -- the law defines "provider of wire communication service" as (more or less) a phone company; ISPs are "electronic communication service" providers, and hence are not covered by that.