FC: More on Feds can secretly get info on cable modem owners

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Below is a reply from a .gov Politech subscriber. Obviously headlines (or 
Subject: lines) can't be as complete as the full article, but I do my best 
to convey how the news will impact readers. --Declan]

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Again, you can reprint this, but only without attribution.  I find your 
stuff very interesting, but for the second day in a row, I have to say that 
you mischaracterized a court ruling. Essentially, the court resolved an 
apparent conflict between ECPA, which would permit law enforcement to get 
basic subscriber information (i.e., name, address, and telephone number) 
using either a subpoena or a court order without notice to the subscriber, 
and the CCPA, which would require notice before a cable company could turn 
over such information.  The court held that the scope of the CCPA does not 
reach Internet service and so notice is not required.  If this ruling is 
followed elsewhere, its only effect would be to treat cable Internet users 
like any other Internet users insofar as the ability of the government to 
get basic subscriber information using a subpoena or a court order.  To 
hold otherwise, would mean that con artists and criminals would all flock 
to cable over other forms of Internet connections. 




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