
Reprinted from: Compuserve's Online Today

FEDERAL PRIVACY SUIT AGAINST BBS OPERATOR  (March 26)

  An electronic bulletin board system user has filed a $112,000 lawsuit
against a BBS and its system operator claiming that the sysop did not properly
safeguard private electronic mail.  The lawsuit could prove to be a landmark
since a court ruling would be the first one handed down under the federal
Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986.  The ECPA mandates privacy
protection of electronic communications, including the electronic mail found
on commercial services and bulletin board systems.
  Linda Thompson filed a pro se complaint in the US District Court for the
Southern District of Indiana.  The civil action alleges that Bob Predaina,
doing business as the Professional's Choice Bulletin Board, violated federal
or Indiana state law on 10 counts.
  According to the complaint obtained by Online Today, during December of 1987,
Predaina allowed others to access and view the contents of all electronic
communications in a private message portion of the subscription BBS.
Previously deleted private messages were also restored so that others could
read them. Apparently, Thompson`s private e-mail was among the messages made
available to others.
  Again, in January, 1988, the sysop "intentionally or recklessly intercepted
and restored to the public portion of the board," a private message of
Thompson's that she had previously deleted.  In subsequent action, the sysop
denied Thompson access to the board even though she had paid one year
subscription to the BBS.  When Thompson requested that the sysop refrain from
actions that "were contrary to the law," Predaina refused.
  The last two counts of the complaint could be the most damaging and state
that on January 6, the sysop "intentionally, maliciously or with reckless
disregard for  the truth, made statements which on their face are damaging to
the professional and personal reputation of [Thompson] in public and to another
person, subjecting the Petitioner to humiliation, personal anguish and
ridicule."  In the suit, Predaina is charged with making similar statements in
the form of publicly posted BBS messages.
  Predaina did not respond to phone calls from Online Today for a reaction to
the lawsuit. However, callers to Predaina's BBS are greeted with a public
apology to Thompson.
  "Generally sysops are good at policing themselves and their boards," Thompson
told Online Today.  "The reason for the lawsuit was that there apparently was
going to be no resolution between [Predaina and myself]. I think that if you
have a board that has a facility for private mail, you have a right to expect
that private mail stays private and is not spread all over."

  --James Moran

