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Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!homxb!houxm!whuts!tes
From: tes@whuts.UUCP
Newsgroups: news.misc,news.sysadmin
Subject: E-mail protected like U.S. Mail? was: Foothead...
Message-ID: <1798@whuts.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 21-Apr-87 07:33:57 EST
Article-I.D.: whuts.1798
Posted: Tue Apr 21 07:33:57 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 23-Apr-87 01:19:20 EST
References: <1128@cartan.Berkeley.EDU} <1065@epimass.UUCP> <5553@eddie.MIT.EDU> <493@gouldsd.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 29
Xref: utgpu news.misc:281 news.sysadmin:117
Summary: Please cite the appropriate CFR

In article <493@gouldsd.UUCP}, mjranum@gouldsd.UUCP (Marcus J Ranum) writes:
} In article <4510@utah-cs.UUCP>, cetron@utah-cs.UUCP (Edward J Cetron) writes:
} 
}> 	a) The lab was expecting a critical letter from an outside source
}> (just so happened to be mit :-) )  and the student whose account it was to be
}> sent to was gone for three days, so i monitored syslog until it arrived and
}> pulled it out of his directory.  NOTE: this was lab business NOT personal mail
}> and gov't contracting agencies wait for no man.
} 
} 	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
} an account, or even edit a user's files, but electronic mail is protected.
While I am not a lawyer, I attempt to keep up on computer law, 
and even send current case law citations to legal types asking
questions.  In addition, I have been known to attend computer
law seminars.

I guess I missed the "Federal Law" or cases that established the
above protection.  May I recommend that we all not comment until
Marcus provides us with some "meat", i.e. CFR citations, 
Federal Court case citations, etc. to back up his statements.

With the "meat" on the table, then we will have much to discuss.
-- 
  -----                    Terry Sterkel
-====----              AT&T Bell Laboratories
--------- {clyde|harvard|cbosgd|allegra|ulysses|ihnp4}!whuts!tes
  -----         [opinions are obviously only my own]