SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a brief
this week in support of one of its previous court opponents, DirecTV, arguing
that a federal appeals court should throw out a lawsuit against the company for
accessing a public website.
DirecTV is being sued by Michael Snow, the publisher of an anti-DirecTV
website that contained warnings to DirecTV employees that they were not
authorized to enter. In its friend-of-the-court brief to the Eleventh Circuit
Court of Appeals, EFF argues that the federal Stored Communications Act, on
which Snow's suit relies, only protects websites that are configured to be
private.
"If you want to keep your website private, then you should protect it with a
password," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "The law doesn't allow web
publishers to sue when people they don't like visit their site. Otherwise, any
company could publish terms of service forbidding competitors, consumer
watchdogs, journalists, or even government officials from scrutinizing a public
website." Under Snow's theory, not only could such unauthorized visitors be
sued, they could also be prosecuted and sent to prison.
Snow is asking the appeals court to overturn the district court's dismissal
of his case. EFF agrees with DirecTV that the case should have been dismissed,
but argues that the lower court's reasoning for dismissal was flawed.
"The district court made the right decision but based on the wrong reasons,
threatening the legal protections for private web communications," Bankston
said. "The appeals court needs to clarify that although public websites aren't
protected by federal privacy laws, sites that are actually configured to be
private are fully covered."
EFF has opposed DirecTV in the past for its legal campaign against "smart
cards," and co-sponsors a website, www.directvdefense.org, designed to
help those who have been sued by DirecTV. However, as Bankston said, "When it
comes to protecting the rights of Internet users, EFF doesn't hold a grudge. We
may oppose DirecTV in other cases, but here, it's plainly on the correct
side."
The US Internet Industry Association, whose membership includes many web
hosts that offer private web services, joined EFF on the brief.
For the full text of the brief, see: www.eff.org/legal/cases/Snow_v_DirecTV/EFF_amicus.pdf
