zatoicchi
17.07.08, 04:04
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last week dismissed on procedural grounds a case involving the constitutionality of warrantless no-notice searches of e-mail messages stored by an Internet service provider.
In doing so, the court left unanswered the question of whether the Fourth Amendment requires the U.S. government to obtain warrants based on reasonable cause before it can compel e-mail service providers to secretly turn over a person's email records.
The case involves an Ohio man, Steven Warshak, who in February was convicted by a jury on 93 counts of mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and other federal offenses. Warshak ran a Cincinnati-based company called Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals Inc., which marketed, distributed and sold herbal supplements. The conviction followed an FBI probe that began in 2005, when Warshak's company was suspected of making false and misleading advertising claims, misrepresentation and various other fraudulent practices.
Court dismisses case challenging warrantless, secret e-mail searches (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9110208&intsrc=hm_list)
In doing so, the court left unanswered the question of whether the Fourth Amendment requires the U.S. government to obtain warrants based on reasonable cause before it can compel e-mail service providers to secretly turn over a person's email records.
The case involves an Ohio man, Steven Warshak, who in February was convicted by a jury on 93 counts of mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and other federal offenses. Warshak ran a Cincinnati-based company called Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals Inc., which marketed, distributed and sold herbal supplements. The conviction followed an FBI probe that began in 2005, when Warshak's company was suspected of making false and misleading advertising claims, misrepresentation and various other fraudulent practices.
Court dismisses case challenging warrantless, secret e-mail searches (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9110208&intsrc=hm_list)