What the wiretap laws mean to the storage manager

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MIKE KARP ON STORAGE IN THE ENTERPRISE
08/16/05
Today's focus: What the wiretap laws mean to the storage
manager

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* What if someone in your company is caught snooping on
  another's e-mail?
* Links related to Storage in the Enterprise
* Featured reader resource
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and how should prepare your network against such potential
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Today's focus: What the wiretap laws mean to the storage
manager

By Mike Karp

So you've got your e-mail backed up and archived, and the users
are happy. The compliance audit was run yesterday and
indications are that what was supposed to be available was, in
fact, stored safely, journaled and is available when needed.
Even better, your splendid management of Outlook challenges
(oops, I almost wrote "problems") apparently is delivering on
your promise to the boss "to conform to all corporate guidelines
and regulatory requirements, no matter what they throw at us!"

Way to go, big guy. Time to go upstairs and have that nice cup
of management coffee.

You make your way up to the executive offices, visions of Krispy
Kremes and Jamaican Blue Mountain served in real china mugs in
your head. You turn the corner and ... stop dead in your tracks.
There, between two largish individuals in blue uniforms, is your
CEO, being led off in handcuffs and muttering something that
sounds like "...but it was only e-mail ...".

The last thing you hear is "Book 'em, Dano."

Looks like it's back to the world of Folgers Crystals and
styrofoam for you.

It turns out that a bunch of other laws other than the ones
relating to compliance also apply to e-mail, and it seems as if
your job may not be over quite yet after all.

Last Friday the Boston Globe reported on a federal appeals court
in Boston that found that a businessman charged with
intercepting and reading his customers' e-mails can be tried
under federal wiretapping statutes. This case has been going on
since 2001, when a federal wiretapping law was used against a
storeowner who intercepted messages to his customers from an
online competitor. The case has been in and out of the appellate
court system ever since, with the defendant's lawyers saying
that the wiretap law did not apply because the e-mail was
intercepted while it was stored in the memory of a computer, and
not when it was traveling across a network.

On Thursday the appeals court ruled that "electronic
communication includes transient electronic storage that is
intrinsic to the communication process, and hence that
interception of an e-mail message in such storage is an offense
under the Wiretap Act." In other words, right now it looks as
if management can't read someone else's e-mail - customers,
employees, you name it - without the permission of the intended
recipient.

So just because you have your company's compliance officer off
your back for the time being doesn't mean this is time to get
complacent. Just see this article
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlstorage5224> for a description
of what is going on. If you really want to dive into this a bit
deeper and see how all this may impact First Amendment rights,
read the friend of the court brief
<http://www.epic.org/privacy/councilman/tech_amicus.pdf>
prepared by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Cisco to juice 6500 switch
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlstorage5225>

2. Cisco to double Catalyst 6500 switch capacity in coming
months, report says
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlstoragealert5119>

3. Test: CipherTrust tops encryption field
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlstorage5226>

4. Microsoft tool to simplify Vista deployment
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlstorage5227>

5. Future-proof your network
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlstoragealert3739>

Today's most-forwarded story:

Cisco to juice 6500 switch
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlstorage5228>
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Mike Karp

Mike Karp is senior analyst with Enterprise Management
Associates, focusing on storage, storage management and the
methodology that brings these issues into the marketplace. He
has spent more than 20 years in storage, systems management and
telecommunications. Mike can be reached via e-mail
<mailto:mkarp@enterprisemanagement.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Avaya
Network World Executive Guide: Evaluating VoIP in the Enterprise

Got VoIP? More and more companies are answering yes...the
reasons vary from cost savings, network flexibility, and ease of
administration. Yet others are drawn to the promise of advanced
VoIP applications such as unified messaging and collaboration.
Register now and get a free copy of Network World's Got VoIP?
Executive Guide, which outlines the keys to successful VoIP
deployments.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=110545
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ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Storage newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/stor/index.html

Breaking storage news and analysis:
http://www.networkworld.com/topics/storage.html
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Making the business case for web-based collaboration

Real business value is derived from the combination of real-time
communications and asynchronous group collaboration, with 24/7
access. Watch now to discover the ins and outs of web-based
collaboration. Go now.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=110134
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Find out if compensation alone is keeping network professionals
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