From: wcs@anchor.ho.att.com (Bill_Stewart_HOY002_1305)
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 93 02:31:40 PDT
To: allan@elvis.tamu.edu
Subject: Re: Disturbing statistics on wiretaps
Message-ID: <9309282139.AA18609@anchor.ho.att.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text


In cypherpunks, allan@elvis.tamu.edu (Allan Bailey) writes:
>   I don't think e-mail over the Intenet will ever be used in court
> since anyone capable of reading the RFC would be able to forge email.
> So, anyone could claim that the email being used as evidence is a
> forgery _and_ be able to prove it by doing it or demonstrating it.

Different standards of proof apply to different kinds of court cases.
Criminal cases need "proof beyond all reasonable doubt"; civil cases
tend to need "preponderance of evidence".  Forging email is similar
to forging typed documents - sometimes cases will heavily use evidence like
analysis of individual typewriter characteristics (which was more useful
when people had real manual typewriters than with laserprinters),
other cases won't examine those details unless one side or the other
claims the document isn't theirs or is forged (and remember, this is
typically subject to perjury if you're caught lying.)

If you're being accused of a serious crime with severe penalties,
like murder, an assertion that you didn't type/email something
will be taken seriously, and probably lead to more analysis;
if they can't *really* prove you sent it, that can be grounds for appeal.

But if you're being accused in a civil lawsuit with only monetary damages,
like libel/slander or whatever the legal form was in the case 
where somebody on a computer network disparaged a company's stock 
and the directors sued when stock value dropped, the assertion may
be listened to, but even if there aren't enough log-files to strongly
support the assertion that you didn't say it, the jury may decide there's
enough evidence to find for the plaintiff, especially if you were a user
of that computer network and didn't go net.screaming that you'd been impersonated.
(On the other hand, after you lose the libel/slander/etc. suit, if the
government decides to charge you with perjury for saying it wasn't your email,
the log-files and lack of provability become much more relevant.)

Of course, if you're accused of a minor offense with major penalties,
e.g. political crimes like drug possession or trespasses like the E911
document copying, lack of proof will be treated as evidence that you
know something about DRUGGZZZ or HACKING and are therefore EEEVILL and
your penalties will be tripled :-( 

# Bill Stewart    wcs@anchor.ho.att.com  +1-908-949-0705 Fax-4876
# AT&T Bell Labs, Room 4M-312, Crawfords Corner Rd, Holmdel, NJ  07733-3030
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