Law Firm Shows Ignorance of the Law in Anonymous Emailer Case
When an employee of San Francisco law firm Shearman & Sterling received an email from an anonymous person who seemed to be a disgruntled subordinate, he didn’t hit the delete button. Instead, his firm subpoenaed craigslist, a community bulletin board where the email first appeared as a posting, in order to discover the identity of the “Jane Doe.”
The firm justified its actions by arguing that the alleged employee’s email was a form of “trespass” on Shearman’s computer systems. The implication of this claim is far-reaching. Contradicting binding precedent, Shearman proposes a rule that would mean anyone who sends an email faces legal liability. It would allow email recipients to track down anonymous correspondents simply to punish them for being annoying or offensive.
EFF: Press Room