Slashdot Mirror
Site Says 'Go Away!'; Federal Court Says No
CaptainEbo writes "Michael Snow was the webmaster of Stop Corporate Extortion, a private support group website for 'individuals who have been, are being, or will be sued by any Corporate entity.' In order to access his site, users were required to register a username and password, and agree to a statement saying they were not associated with DirecTV, Inc. Several defendants in suits brought by DirecTV would discuss their cases on Snow's site. When DirecTV's employees and lawyers ignored Snow's user agreement and accessed his site anyway, Snow sued, claiming they violated the Stored Communications Act (SCA) by accessing his site without authorization. In an unanimous opinion, the Eleventh Circuit rejected Snow's suit."
Hypocrisy is the first thing that comes to mind here.
The closest physical manifestation of this situation is for a man to walk into a private meeting room such as a boardroom, then use the information he heard for personal gain.
Or someone wandering into a Lawyers office and listening in on a Lawyer-Client conversation and using that information against the client.
Its truly frightening that the US legal system supports such gross violation of privacy, so long as it is perpetrated by a company, not a person.
Can't we all just get along
It's more akin to Dale than anything else. If you *say* you're a private club, but you don't screen applicants in any way shape or form, you are not a private club. Since his website has a "screening process" that is a mere formality, it does not qualify for SCA protection.
Seriously, the number of non-lawyers sounding off in the last three days has gotten on my nerves; there's a lot of misinformation on slashdot (surprise surprise) but it always seems to be worse when it involves the law...
When in doubt, parenthesize. At the very least it will let some poor schmuck bounce on the % key in vi. (Larry Wall)
No, what you describe is called "theft". There are laws against that.
Think before posting.
Seems to me like he is discriminating against Direct TV personel. Could I create a website that says no "blacks" can enter? NO! Could I be sued if I did? YES! He should not be able to create a website saying no Direct TV personel and they have every right to counter-sue in my opinion.