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Judge Backs Amazon, Raps Feds Over Book Records
netbuzz alerts us to a ruling in federal court that has just been made public. US Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker told the Feds to lay off Amazon in denying prosecutors' requests for records of who bought what books at the online retailer. The judge wrote, "The [subpoena's] chilling effect on expressive e-commerce would frost keyboards across America." Prosecutors had demanded 24,000 transaction records from Amazon, all in service of convicting a city official on charges of fraud and tax evasion. In the end they found customer information on the official's PC, where they should have looked in the first place.
I'd say this judge does not have a Bush bestowed nickname like ol' Kenny Boy!
Goatse.ca!
Have you guys thought about this at all?
If Amazon had evidence that linked the guy to fraud, why shouldn't they be asked for it? You guys really want Amazon to be the place where anyone can hide any evidence of any crime?
Discovery of evidence in a court proceeding is not a privacy issue. Since when is privacy a factor in what courts do?
Maybe OJ Simpson should have been able to keep his shoe size private? And why did the court really need to know his relationship to the victims anyway? Let alone where he was at the time of the murders?! Like that was any of the court's business! Pretty soon they'll be asking those questions of all suspected murderers. We better stop it now before you can't get away with murder or fraud any more. I'm outraged.