Judge Says Recording of Electronic Chats Is Legal
Surveillance and Privacy from Government
5/2/2000; 10:31:57 AM Jan 14, 2000: This decision was made in the context of a case where the police used ICQ to set up a sting. I think this decision at the very least was made for the wrong reasons, and is a clear illustration of the problem that Internet rights are having; there are never any clear cases, instead potentially far-reaching decisions are made in the context of a sting operation or other similar, limited context. I doubt the judge truly appreciates what it means to say that chatting on the Internet is not subject to the same protections as talking on a phone, or private conversation.