Federal Judge: Keystroke Logging Isn't Wiretapping

TospenJ writes "A federal judge in Los Angeles has dismissed wiretapping charges against a California man who used a hardware keystroke logger to spy on his employer, SecurityFocus is reporting. The court ruled that the device doesn't violate the federal Wiretap Act because it only intercepted signals off a keyboard cable, not an interstate network. The government is asking for reconsideration. Ironically, the judge relied in part on the Scarfo precedent, which allowed the FBI to use such a keylogger without a wiretap warrant."

Comments

Re:Wire

[bsartist]

You understand the word wire just fine - you do not understand the word federal. Federal law applies if the wire crosses state lines - so if your PC is in California and your keyboard in Nevada, federal wiretap law would apply.

Note that the judge specifically stated that the federal law does not apply here - if California has any laws regarding wire tapping, those still might apply.

Re:Ironic?

[tsm_sf]

Yeah, pretty logical too. A key logger isn't a sniffer.

It's not up to the judge to (in a case like this) rule on the moral guilt of the defendant, but just to determine if they've broken the applicible law. Now is when we'd see the legislative branch of our government swing into action, were it not populated by scum-sucking filth.