Re: PGP in FIDO

[Mike Godwin <mnemonic@eff.org>]

Marc writes:

> I'm truly amazed.  Mike Godwin, who is a lawyer who *specializes* in
> this sort of thing, has rebuffed this statement several times, and
> given his phone number for interested BBS sysops to call him.   And
> yet, people continue to spew disbelief.

One reason I gave out my number is to allow people to ask me specific
questions that refer to how they run their *specific* systems--it may be
that they're not risking ECPA liability, given the particular conditions
they're working under. 

But one think I think sysops need to realize is that ECPA is the *default*
setting.
 
> Of course, without real case law, Mike's opinion is still just that,
> but when some BBS sysop gets nailed by the ECPA, I'm gonna laugh.

On some of my interpretations of ECPA, reasonable lawyers may disagree,
but at this point most FIDO sysops who assert that ECPA doesn't apply
haven't read the statute.


--Mike