So holds the Fourth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Gregory. I would add just one minor tweak to the court’s analysis. Although the Stored Communications Act was enacted in 1986, the provision introducing intermediate-scrutiny 2703(d) orders was not enacted until 1994. See H.R.Rep. No. 103–827, at 31–32 (1994), reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.A.A.N. 3489, 3511–12. […]
Archive | Stored Communications Act
Can A Judge Order Individuals to Consent to Facebook Disclosing Their Status Updates?
This issue arose in Juror Number One v. Superior Court, handed down yesterday by the California Court of Appeal, Third District. Because the facts of the case are likely to recur, and they involve a statute I have written a lot about, I thought I would blog my thoughts on the case. The case involves […]
Judge Orders Plaintiff to Give Defendant Her Facebook Username and Password So Defendant Can Access Plaintiff’s Account As Part of Discovery
The decision is Largent v. Reed (Pa. Common Pleas Nov. 8, 2011), and it involves a discovery request by the defendant in a civil case arising from a car accident. The defendant has filed a Motion to Compel Facebook Login Information in an effort to look through the plaintif’s account for evidence that she was […]
2703(d) Orders in the News — No, Really
There has been a lot of news coverage about the “subpoenas” served on Twitter for information about certain users relating to WikiLeaks. I gave an interview on the legal issues raised by investigation here to NPR’s Marketplace Tech Report (start around 1:45), and I wanted to offer a few more thoughts. The “subpoenas” used in […]
The Perils of Interpreting Statutes With Multiple Remedial Schemes: A Comment on the Dicta in United States v. Szymuszkiewicz
By Orin Kerr on September 10, 2010 3:21 am in Fourth Amendment, Stored Communications Act, Wiretap Act
The Seventh Circuit decided an interesting Wiretap Act case today that was largely a replay of United States v. Councilman, the First Circuit case that I blogged about here a bunch of times back in 2004 to 2005. In the new case, United States v. Szymuszkiewicz (glad I don’t have to pronounce that one), the […]
Is “Project Vigilant” a Publicity Stunt?
Richard Bejtlich thinks so. Bejtlich’s theory sounds plausible: I also thought it was odd that I’d never heard of the group until today. Further, although the group is supposed to include lots of “big names,” the only person on the list who I had heard of was Mark Rasch, a consultant and former DOJ lawyer […]
What Is “Project Vigilant,” and Is It Violating the Law?
Salon’s Glenn Greenwald has an interesting post about a group called “Project Vigillant,” which it seems is some sort of volunteer private-sector group that tracks hackers (and perhaps other bad guys). I say “seems” because I’ve never heard of the group, and it’s not entirely clear what it does. But a report in Forbes includes […]