From: allan@elvis.tamu.edu (Allan Bailey)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 93 12:51:32 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Disturbing statistics on wiretaps
In-Reply-To: <199309281919.AA17954@eff.org>
Message-ID: <9309281950.AA04308@elvis.tamu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Mike Godwin writes:
>Stig writes:
>> are inadmissible in court.  This means that fax and modem communications can
>> be illegally intercepted and STILL used in court against you.
>
>The same is true of e-mail over the Internet--there is no statutory
>exclusionary rule that would prvent its admissibility in court. It is at
>least theoretically possible, however, to exclude illegally seized
>communications of these sorts using a "pure 4th Amendment" (nonstatutory)
>exclusionary rule.
>
>Don't hold your breath, though.

  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.

  At least, I think this would be a way to get it thrown out.

  :-)  I'm not a lawyer, I don't even pretend to be one on MUD.

Allan