As a network administrator, our security training pointed out that we become "agents of the police" when we ask for their (police) asssistance or cooperate with their requests. If you are an "agent of the police", then you are bound by the same rules, laws, procedures, etc, that the police themselves are bound by.
As I understood it, the purpose of these rules was to prevent the police from violating the public's rights by using a third party. For example, an undercover police officer can't walk up to you and offer to see you cocaine and then arrest you -- its called entrapment. If the police use a third person to walk up to you and offer you cocaine, the entrapment rules still apply. At least that is what I understand about these rules.
Are there any lawyers out there who could comment on this? It seems to me that E-bay has made themselves an agent of the police by advertising their cooperation.
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As a network administrator, our security training pointed out that we become "agents of the police" when we ask for their (police) asssistance or cooperate with their requests. If you are an "agent of the police", then you are bound by the same rules, laws, procedures, etc, that the police themselves are bound by.
As I understood it, the purpose of these rules was to prevent the police from violating the public's rights by using a third party. For example, an undercover police officer can't walk up to you and offer to see you cocaine and then arrest you -- its called entrapment. If the police use a third person to walk up to you and offer you cocaine, the entrapment rules still apply. At least that is what I understand about these rules.
Are there any lawyers out there who could comment on this? It seems to me that E-bay has made themselves an agent of the police by advertising their cooperation.