This text was extracted from RISKS DIGEST 14.39 - 8<------- Cut Here ----------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Mar 93 10:25:35 -0500 From: Eric Haines <erich@eye.com> Subject: Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service wrapup [Eric Haines, erich@eye.com, sent me a Houston Chronicle article by Joe Abernathy, a sometime contributor to RISKS, which Eric found in the electronic mail magazine "Desperado" ("no, it's not a magazine about hacking"). "There can be justice in the world, after all..." EH. I cannot include the long copyrighted article here, but have excerpted from the beginning, as follows. It's a good article. Alas, no date. But Joe may still be available at Joe.Abernathy@houston.chron.com if you want to dig up the whole thing. Also, see RISKS-9.95,96;10.01,ff. for the earlier history. PGN] Steve Jackson Games/Secret Service wrapup By JOE ABERNATHY Copyright 1993, Houston Chronicle [no date given] AUSTIN -- An electronic civil rights case against the Secret Service closed Thursday with a clear statement by federal District Judge Sam Sparks that the Service failed to conduct a proper investigation in a notorious computer crime crackdown, and went too far in retaining custody of seized equipment. The judge's formal findings in the complex case, which will likely set new legal precedents, won't be returned until later. [...] The judge's rebuke apparently convinced the Department of Justice to close its defense after calling only ... one of the several government witnesses on hand. "The Secret Service didn't do a good job in this case. We know no investigation took place. Nobody ever gave any concern as to whether (legal) statutes were involved. We know there was damage," Sparks said in weighing damages. The lawsuit, brought by Steve Jackson Games of Austin, said that the seizure of three computers violated the Privacy Protection Act, which provides First Amendment protections against seizing a publisher's works in progress. The lawsuit further said that since one of the computers was being used to run a bulletin board system containing private electronic mail, the seizure violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act in regards to the 388 callers of the Illuminati BBS. The testimony described by Joe was rather strange. Agents testified that there was no criminal connection, they were not even trained in the Privacy Protection Act, and it took them only an hour to discover the true nature of the situation. The Electronic Frontier Foundation spent over $200,000 bringing this case to trial. The legal ramifications are considerable. Perhaps someone from EFF will contribute an analysis to RISKS, although many EFFers (and I) are at Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 93 this week. Don't hold your breath, but perhaps we need to wait for the judge? PGN 8<------- Cut Here ----------------------- Cheers. Paul Ferguson | Network Integration Consultant | "All of life's answers are Alexandria, Virginia USA | on TV." fergp@sytex.com (Internet) | -- Homer Simpson sytex.com!fergp (UUNet) | 1:109/229 (FidoNet) | PGP public encryption key available upon request.