It is not surprising that Governor Palin has been attacked so vehemently in today's media age. She represents a conservative, traditional point of view, which is at odds with most in both news and entertainment media. Whether you agree with her politics or not, any rational human would conclude that most of these attacks are below the belt. For the record, there have and continue to legitimate inquiries about her record that need to be answered. The most recent publication of Governor Palin's personal emails leaves many questions about the security of private communication, and more germane to the course, what are the legal boundaries of hackers and those that publish hacked material? In the article Legal Analysis by Kurt Opsahl (http://www.eff.org/blog-categories/legal-analysis), Opsahl cites Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001) in which the Supreme Court says (parapharasing) that the publication of illegal information is protected if it was lawfully obtained. The standard applies three tenets:
The publisher had no hand in the illegal activity in obtaining the information.
They received the information lawfully.
The subject matter is of the public concern.
I differ with Opsahl in his conclusion that the posting of these emails will be protected due to the third tenet. Yet, I realize there are some concerns (questions) that the Governor Palin used her personal mail for state business. At this point, whether these concerns are legitimate or not is a matter of pure conjecture. What is certain is that you would open up Pandora's box if mere speculation was just cause for breaking Stored Communications Act, SCA; ends justify the means is grossly insidious to the foundation of a free society.
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