United States v. Maxwell case brief summary

United States v. Maxwell case brief summary
 

1.        Feds had list of screen names of people trafficking in child porn; AOL had anticipated the request and developed a program to get the information; however, it provided info and records on screen names beyond the list (people had multiple screen names and AOL provided all screen names for some people)

2.        To what extent does a user enjoy a RXP in e-mail and in messages posted to a public discussion board/chat room?

3.        “[T]he transmitter of an e-mail message enjoys a reasonable expectation that police officials will not intercept the transmission without probable cause and a search warrant. However, once the transmissions are received by another person, the transmitter no longer controls its destiny.”

4.        In case where e-mail is stored on a service’s server (like AOL) users bear the risk of an employee voluntarily opening the message. However this is different from the police compelling the person to open it.

5.        When issued a warrant, ISP must adhere to the language of the warrant and not go beyond it.