Re: Keyloggers in computer labs

[Valdis Kletnieks <Valdis.Kletnieks () VT EDU>]

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 00:37:22 EST, stanislav shalunov said:

> WARNING: It is a US federal crime to annoy me over the Internet.
> (47 U.S.C. 223, amended by Sec. 113 H.R.3402, in effect since 2006-01-05.)

Actually, only doing so anonymously is illegal.  And what that law *really* did
was extend the already existing laws regarding harassing/threatening telephone
calls to cover VoIP and similar - in that context, "annoying" has a specific
legal meaning.

47 USC 223(a)(1)(C) through (E) say:

(Whoever-...) "(C) makes a telephone call or utilizes a telecommunications device,
whether or not conversation or communication ensues, without disclosing his
identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person at the
called number or who receives the communications;
(D) makes or causes the telephone of another repeatedly or continuously to
ring, with intent to harass any person at the called number; or
(E) makes repeated telephone calls or repeatedly initiates communication with a
telecommunications device, during which conversation or communication ensues,
solely to harass any person at the called number or who receives the
communication; or (...)"

So for the law to apply, they have to be anonymous *and* show intent to
be annoying, in the specific meaning of "annoying" that lawyers use.
The merely irritating bozos we come across every day simply don't qualify,
as much as we might wish they did....

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