[governance] Fwd: [IP] Google’s Gmail Keyword Scanning Might Violate Wiretap Law, Judge Finds

Thu Sep 26 21:17:58 EDT 2013

This could be a big judgement, contributing to jurisprudence on and with 
regard to the Internet..

States and big business have unilaterally begun to treat private content 
transmitted on the Internet differently than content that is transmitted 
over phone or by post in terms of its complete privacy... This is a 
wrong reading, but states and big business - both wanting access to 
private info - are in cahoots to make this inappropriate interpretation.

The neutrality of the carriers must be restored. They should make their 
money by just getting paid for carriage or putting up ads around the 
carriage system -  but not by tapping into the monetary value of private 
data/ information

parminder

On Friday 27 September 2013 06:35 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote:
>
>
> --srs (iPad)
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> *From:* David Farber <farber at gmail.com <mailto:farber at gmail.com>>
>> *Date:* 27 September 2013 4:42:47 IST
>> *To:* "ip" <ip at listbox.com <mailto:ip at listbox.com>>
>> *Subject:* *[IP] Google’s Gmail Keyword Scanning Might Violate 
>> Wiretap Law, Judge Finds*
>> *Reply-To:* dave at farber.net <mailto:dave at farber.net>
>>
>>
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne at warpspeed.com 
>> <mailto:dewayne at warpspeed.com>>
>> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Google’s Gmail Keyword Scanning Might Violate 
>> =?windows-1252?Q?_Wiretap_Law=2C_Judge_Finds_=
>> Date: September 26, 2013 5:41:26 PM EDT
>> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net - Sent by 
>> <dewayne at warpspeed.com <mailto:dewayne at warpspeed.com>>
>> Reply-To: dewayne-net at warpspeed.com <mailto:dewayne-net at warpspeed.com>
>>
>> Google’s Gmail Keyword Scanning Might Violate Wiretap Law, Judge Finds
>> By DAVID KRAVETS
>> 09.26.13
>> <http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/09/gmail-wiretap-ruling/>
>>
>> A federal judge today found that Google may have breached federal and 
>> California wiretapping laws for machine-scanning Gmail messages as 
>> part of its business model to create user profiles and provide 
>> targeted advertising.
>>
>> The decision by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh was rendered in a 
>> proposed class-action alleging Google wiretaps Gmail as part of its 
>> business model. Google sought to have the federal case in California 
>> dismissed under a section of the Wiretap Act that authorizes email 
>> providers to intercept messages if the interception facilitated the 
>> message’s delivery or was incidental to the functioning of the 
>> service in general.
>>
>> “Accordingly, the statutory scheme suggests that Congress did not 
>> intend to allow electronic communication service providers unlimited 
>> leeway to engage in any interception that would benefit their 
>> business models, as Google contends. In fact, this statutory 
>> provision would be superfluous if the ordinary course of business 
>> exception were as broad as Google suggests,” Judge Koh wrote.
>>
>> Gmail, including its business service called Google Apps, is the 
>> world’s biggest email service, with some 450 million users globally.
>>
>> The decision is also a blow to Yahoo, whose free email platform with 
>> more than 300 million users also scans email to deliver ads. 
>> Microsoft’s rebranded free Outlook webmail offering does not scan 
>> messages of its 400 million users.
>>
>> It was the second time this month that a federal court has found 
>> Google potentially liable for wiretapping.
>>
>> Just yesterday, Google asked a federal appeals court to reconsider a 
>> recent ruling finding Google potentially on the hook for wiretapping 
>> when it secretly intercepted data on open Wi-Fi routers.
>>
>> The Mountain View-based company said the September 10 decision by the 
>> 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will create “confusion” about which 
>> over-the-air signals are protected by the Wiretap Act, including 
>> broadcast television.
>>
>> That case concerns nearly a dozen combined lawsuits seeking damages 
>> from Google for eavesdropping on open Wi-Fi networks from its Street 
>> View mapping cars. The vehicles, which rolled through neighborhoods 
>> around the world, were equipped with Wi-Fi–sniffing hardware to 
>> record the names and MAC addresses of routers to improve Google 
>> location-specific services. But the cars also gathered snippets of 
>> content.
>>
>> The search giant yesterday petitioned the San Francisco-based appeals 
>> court to reconsider its decision that allowed the case to proceed at 
>> trial — a ruling that upended Google’s defense.
>>
>> Like the appeals court ruling, Judge Koh’s decision guts Google’s 
>> wiretapping defense in the Gmail case.
>>
>> No trial date has been set.
>>
>> “The ruling means federal and state wiretap laws apply to the 
>> internet. It’s a tremendous victory for online privacy. Companies 
>> like Google can’t simply do whatever they want with our data and 
>> emails,” said Jon Simpson, the privacy director for Consumer Watchdog 
>> of Santa Monica, California.
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>>
>>
>> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/>
>>
>>
>>
>> David Farber
>>
>> Carnegie Mellon University
>> Adjunct Professor of Internet Studies
>>
>> University of Pennsylvania
>> Alfred Fitler Moore  Emeritus Professor of Telecommunications
>>
>> Cell: +1-412-726-9889
>> Email: dave at farber.net <mailto:dave at farber.net>
>>
>> Public Key Fingerprint: 2133 594F 87C6 DC11 8BCD 6897 F46C 3C84 91C7 03FA
>>
>>

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