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From: cetron@utah-cs.UUCP (Edward J Cetron)
Newsgroups: news.misc,news.sysadmin
Subject: Re: Foothead, Foothead, on the net/Who's the biggest liar yet?
Message-ID: <4512@utah-cs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 20-Apr-87 12:38:10 EST
Article-I.D.: utah-cs.4512
Posted: Mon Apr 20 12:38:10 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 21-Apr-87 00:58:43 EST
References: <1128@cartan.Berkeley.EDU> <1065@epimass.UUCP> <5553@eddie.MIT.EDU> <4510@utah-cs.UUCP> <493@gouldsd.UUCP>
Reply-To: cetron@cs.utah.edu.UUCP (Edward J Cetron)
Organization: Center for Engineering Design, Univ of Utah
Lines: 30
Summary: wrongo!!
Xref: mnetor news.misc:291 news.sysadmin:127

In article <493@gouldsd.UUCP> mjranum@gouldsd.UUCP (Marcus J Ranum) writes:
>	What you are talking about here is a violation of Federal Law. Electronic
>mail is protected under the same protection as the US Mail, despite the speed
>difference !  It is legal for root to read a user's files, delete them, trash

	Wrongo, there has yet to be a law that specifically addresses e-mail
in the same way as us mail is federally protected.  There have/are several
which address 'stealing' of information services and data but ALL of the ones
that I have seen do NOT address the issue of the machines owner 'snooping'.
Given that NONE of our users own any part of the machine, pay not even a penny
for time on the machine, it is very hard to say that they have any RIGHT to
any data on the machines.  Now with the copyright laws, I am sure that one
could conceivably be charged with unauthorized reproduction, or with plagarism
if done in an academic environment.  However, e-mail to/from our sites are NOT
protected by any such law.  

	By the way, I DID know in advance that the letter would be sent, I DID
know in advance that the author of the letter was going to send it to a 
particular user (note he is NOT a student, not that it matters) and that he
was sending it there since he had an alias to send it there on his computer
and couldn't be persuaded to send it out correctly instead (too many %'s and 
and extra 5 words - but then faculty has its rank :-) ).

	If anyone DOES know of laws which are intended to put e-mail under
protection similar to us mail, I'd be interested in seeing references.

(and by the way, there ARE several times in which it IS legal for USPS people
to open personal mail)

-ed cetron