Newsgroups: netcom.general,alt.2600,alt.2600hz Path: nntp.gmd.de!xlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!spool.mu.edu!sgiblab!sgigate.sgi.com!olivea!news.hal.COM!decwrl!netcomsv!netcom.com!lewiz From: lewiz@netcom.com (Lewis De Payne) Subject: Re: Netcom monitoring our email? Message-ID: Organization: NETCOM On-line Monitoring Service X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL1] References: Date: Sun, 11 Sep 1994 21:23:35 GMT Lines: 58 Glenn S. Tenney (tenney@netcom.com) said: : : What is going on?????? : Sneak preview from Full Disclosure #32: : Some of you may be aware of the FBI subpeona for email transactions of : lewiz@netcom.com. I'm always fascinated by the online world, in that few people bother going directly to the source to learn the facts. Rather, they enjoy promulgating speculation and devising non-existant scenarios. Regarding the FBI monitoring Netcom Account(s) ============================================== On or about August 11, 1994 Netcom Communications made a copy of the directory contents of /u#/lewiz, all subdirectories, and the personal electronic mail belonging to lewiz in accordance with a court order sought by FBI Special Agent Kenneth G. McGuire III and Special Agent Kathleen Carson. On or about August 25, 1994 a system administrator in England by the name of Neill Clift called Netcom to ask for assistance in tracking unauthorized activities apparently emanating from a netcom account. Wanting to preserve all evidence, Mr. Clift was tape recording his conversation with the various Netcom personnel (in England it is not illegal to record phone conversations). Despite the fact that the activity Neill Clift was tracking had nothing to do with the "lewiz" account, netcom personnel were quick to disclose to him that this account was being monitored per a request from the FBI. He was shocked that they were disclosing this _publicly_, despite the fact that his call had nothing to do with and did not involve the account. On or about August 26, 1994 Lewis De Payne received a phone call from his friend Neill Clift in England, informing him of what netcom had said. Armed with the name of a tech-support person Neill had spoken to, Lewis De Payne then called netcom tech support and confirmed that they had told Mr. Clift about the monitoring. Approximately a week later, Lewis De Payne spoke with Dennis David, Vice President of Operations at Netcom, and expressed his dissatis- faction with Netcom's inappropriate behavior in this matter. Not only had Netcom personnel disclosed sensitive information, they had possibly jeapordized an ongoing Federal investigation. In response, Netcom issued an internal memo asking support personnel to not disclose confidential information, especially about accounts that were being monitored pursuant to court order. That's all that there is to this story. At this juncture, Mr. De Payne has no interest in pursuing legal remedies against Netcom, and believes that Mr. David has corrected the situation. Furthermore, Mr. De Payne believes Netcom's remarks were unintentional, and does not believe in seeking redress simply for the sake of redress. In the future, Mr. De Payne hopes Netcom will be as forgiving, should he be the one to make a mistake. The end. -- cc: Kathleen Carson, S.A., FBI, LA, CA. || Pursuant to Court Order Kenneth G. McGuire, III. S.A., FBI, LA, CA. || served August 11, 1994 Stanley E. Ornellas, S.A., FBI, LA, CA. || on Netcom Communications