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USA PATRIOT Act Impasse: E-mail Interception Rules Need Congressional Attention, Too
When, if ever, can your Internet Service Provider ('ISP') legally intercept and then read your e-mail? Nearly anytime, according to almost every federal court that has tackled the issue. Due to outdated statutory language, courts have been inconsistent and tentative in applying the federal Wiretap Act to e-mail interception. In recent years, two circuits have flip-flopped on this crucial issue.
The original guiding force behind the 1968 Wiretap Act was to protect real-time wire and cable communications from interception while in transit. Stored communications, however, have been covered by the eponymous Stored Communications Act ('SCA') since 1986 ' when Congress enacted the Electronic Communications Privacy Act ('ECPA'). The ECPA incorporated the old Wiretap Act as Title I and added the SCA as Title II.
With the SCA, Congress relaxed the level of protection for stored communications, divining a lower expectation of privacy in completed transmissions than in 'live' conversations. Accordingly, while the SCA generally prohibits unauthorized access to stored e-mail, it provides an exemption for ISPs, which may need to access users' e-mails for a variety of legitimate purposes. Therefore, unless e-mail is protected under the SCA's cohort, namely the Wiretap Act, ISPs will be granted free license to read any e-mail, even before it has been read by the intended recipient.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.