On Fri, 11 May 2007 12:47:56 -0700 (GMT-07:00) Todd Glassey <tglassey@earthlink.net> wrote:

Gee Steven, that's what everyone thought prior to a Federal Judge ordering Microsoft to produce seven years of Email...

We're getting off-topic here, but I'll respond. First -- the context of the conversation is wiretap law, including the stored communications and customer records provisions. This covers what communications providers do for their customers, not internal emails. Second: (a) The judge's order was for a civil lawsuit, under discovery procedures; (b) The order was for records that they apparently had. If Microsoft had had and enforced a policy, prior to that lawsuit, of not retaining internal email older than 30 days, they'd have been in the clear. Microsoft got in trouble because the judge believed they were not complying with his order to turn over data he believed they had, either deliberately or by not exerting sufficient effort; (c) you may have business reasons to retain certain records for longer, including the requirements of external auditors. For example, if you do usage-sensitive billing, you may need to retain certain records for a while so that your accounting firm can verify that your financial records accurately reflect actual customer behavior. (d) What doesn't exist can't be subpoenaed; what does exist, in general, can be, subject to other specialized exceptions (i.e., attorney work product) Third -- that isn't what I'm talking about. Please see, among others, http://news.com.com/Gonzales+pressures+ISPs+on+data+retention/2100-1028_3-60... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/20/gonzales_calls_for_data_retention/ http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6156948.html Note especially that last one, since it's only 3 months old and provides for jail time for "employees of any Internet provider who fail to store that information", and not just fines for the company. I've tried hard to keep this discussion factual, with copious references. But I think I've run out of things to say that are even vaguely on-topic, so I'll shut up. --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb