U.S. court rules against e-mail privacy

A U.S. appeals
court in Massachusetts has ruled a company that provides e-mail service has the
right to copy and read any message sent to its customers. The Washington Post
said the 2-to-1 decision by a panel of the 1st U.S.

Court of Appeals dismayed
privacy advocates, who said it kills any notion e-mail enjoys the same
protections as telephone conversations or letters. The ruling said because
e-mail is stored, however briefly, in computers before it is routed to
recipients, it is not subject to laws that apply to tapping telephone calls,
which are continuously in transit.

As a result, the majority said companies or
employers that own the computers are free to intercept messages before they are
received by customers. A small, now defunct online company that sold
out-of-print book lists sparked the case. Interloc Inc. also provided e-mail
service to its members. In January 1998 company engineers were told to make
copies of all incoming e-mail to its members from Amazon.com Inc., which also
sells books.

The government charged the company, which was later acquired by a
California firm, wanted to get an idea of Amazon’s book-selling strategy. (UPI)

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040701-082816-5823r.htm