>> The following appeared in today's Risks-Forum Digest, Volume 20, Issue 35,
>> available at http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/20.35.html
>>
>> As I read it I began to wonder if perhaps I should ban Intel addresses
>> from my lists, seeing as how they are recreational in nature and this
>> judge's definition makes me uncomfortable sending anything to their
>> private network that doesn't pertain directly to their business.
>> What do y'all think?
>
>I don't see any relationship at all. The key word in the lawsuit,
>and in the judge's opinion, is "unsolicited". Neither you, nor I,
>nor other list managers (I hope), will be sending unsolicited mail
>to Intel or anywhere else.
Michael,
The key word "unsolicited" does appear in both the summary in Risks Digest,
as well as the referenced LA Times article, but neither article contained
the text of the lawsuit or of the judge's opinion, nor any quote of the
judge using the word. Maybe you found the text of the ruling and it's in
there but I haven't seen it. Without that we're only quoting press
reporters summaries. A few quotes from the LA Times article:
The case marks the first time a court has considered whether a
company can fence off its employees from incoming e-mail, let
alone block content that in other settings would be considered
constitutionally protected speech.
"We're really concerned that sending an e-mail can now be
considered a trespass," said Shari Steele, director of legal services
for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group. "That
has huge ramifications for the way that e-mail is done."
Sweeping aside a number of free-speech arguments, Judge
John R. Lewis compared borders between computer networks to
property boundaries, and said "the mere connection of Intel's
e-mail system with the Internet does not convert it into a public
forum."
Intel attorneys applauded the ruling and said the company only
wanted the right to control access to computer networks it has spent
millions of dollars building solely for the business use of its
employees.
>If Intel, speaking through one of its
>employee accountholders, requests mail from a mailing list, you
>cannot be charged with sending unsolicited mail. Whether that mail
>is an appropriate use of their systems is between Intel management
>and the employee, but if it is solicited, that does not affect you.
Yes I used to believe this. Now I'm not so sure...
-Mitch
