Secure Private Web Sites and Wiretapping

Masem writes "According to this CNET article, an interesting case is working it's way through the courts. A pilot for Hawaiian Airlines had set up a private web site, sufficiently secured for only those that he wanted to allow access to (in this case, coworkers), on which he reported gripes and complaints about the company. The airline used a fellow pilot's name and information to gain access to the site at least 20 times to find out what he was doing (though the article does not say if the pilot had been punished in anyway). The pilot's lawyers argued that secured communication that the web site provided was considered to be the same level as phone calls, and thus the activities of the airline were akin to wiretapping. The initial judical decision rejected this arguement, but a federal circuit court reversed it and found in favor of the pilot. It's unknown where this will go, but this decision could set several favorable precidents regarding private communications on the net."

Comments

Re:Could the DMCA be applied?

[OmegaDan]

The DMCA only works if your a paranoid-delusional company trying to erode the freedoms of the public for the sake of selling more battlefield earth DVD's ... because everyones stealing your property!

When someone does this to their site...

[jerrytcow]

If someone cracked their web site, you could bet Hawaiian Airlines would be all over them with lawyers, FBI, etc. It's nice that the courts ruled in favor of the pilot, but I'd like to see some charges filed for illegally breaking into this guy's site.

I was going to say the same thing...

[cr0sh]

Technically, what this VP did to this guy could be considered the same thing that Kevin Mitnick did - used false pretenses and other "social engineering" tactics to gain unauthorised access to machines, and the information contained therein.

So why isn't this VP's ass in the slammer yet?

Not that I advocate what was done to Kevin Mitnick. While I know that what he did was in the wrong, I don't believe his treatment or his "punishment" fit the crime committed. However, had KM only did 1/10 the time, he still would've did more time than this VP.

Just more proof of class ruling over justice - somehow I think all of this will be swept under the rug, the VP will get his wrists slapped, and we'll hear no more about it...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

URL for decision

[Froomkin]

Read the decision in Konop v. Hawaiian Airlines at findlaw.com.

Re:Wire-tapping

[lizrd]

Companies in the US cannot (legally) do wiretapping. That's the whole point. It seems that a law exists that prohibits employers from reading the private communications of employees on stored information system (websites?) however its penalties are less severe than the law prohibiting them from listening in on private telephone conversations. The question at issue here is if the wiretap law has been violated as well. These laws are quite complex and more than a little vague given that the different options for personal communications have expanded greatly in the past few years and it is difficult (even for geeks) to forsee what privacy issues will arise with future communication technologies and what protections should be afforded to different groups of people.
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