Re: Legal question

["Steven M. Bellovin" <smb () research att com>]

In message <7055B446C24AD2118CC000805F156594022B67EB () aimrmsntsb irm state gov>,
 "Crumrine, Gary L" writes:
> After wearing out my fingers during a heated conversation with another
> colleague over legalities of certain actions, a question came up in my mind
> concerning sniffers and their usage.
>
> If a sniffer was placed on the outside of a given network, and was
> configured to sniff packets coming from that network only, does this
> constitute an illegal wire tap?  And do the same rules apply to data as they
> do voice?  In some cases it transits the same copper wire... ouch I am
> getting a headache..
As always, it depends...  What network?  An ISP network?  A corporate net?  A 
(U.S.) government net?  I put my best guess into the Firewalls book, but I'm 
not a lawyer.  You should consult one if this is a serious question, 
*especially* for government agencies.

                --Steve Bellovin