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is it illegal to...

Motofixxer

Regular Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
965
Location
Somewhere over the Rainbow
I don't believe it's illlegal. It's not the smartest thing to do. Depending on who the person is and what the reason for posting the address. Due to the webcrawlers looking for address' to Spam...I won't. But for revenge on somebody, I'm sure people do. I won't post anybody else's, because I wouldn't appreciate the same.
 

Doug Huffman

Banned
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
9,180
Location
Washington Island, across Death's Door, Wisconsin,
Depends. Most of the time it is legal.
I'll go further, I can't imagine it being illegal ever. If there are doubts then the message probably shouldn't even be in e-mail format. "A secret shared is a secret bared."

If we're talkin' about 'bots harvesting e-mail addresses; G00gle's spam filters are amazing. I have never touched mine to 'tune it up' and I almost never get spam e-mail.
 

paul@paul-fisher.com

Regular Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
4,049
Location
Chandler, AZ
I'll go further, I can't imagine it being illegal ever. If there are doubts then the message probably shouldn't even be in e-mail format. "A secret shared is a secret bared."

If we're talkin' about 'bots harvesting e-mail addresses; G00gle's spam filters are amazing. I have never touched mine to 'tune it up' and I almost never get spam e-mail.

Hey! You pick nits so I figured I'd do it as well! If he has some sort of government clearance and received a top secret email then it would be illegal, however, I would ASSuME Dustin would know that. :)
 

JoeSparky

Centurion
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
3,621
Location
Pleasant Grove, Utah, USA
Is it illegal to post a private e-mail in a public forum? This has to do with OC, I'll reveal more if necessary.

Are YOU the originator or the recipient of the email in question? If "yes" then probably legal. No comment on weather it is "wise" however.

Remember that this opinion is mine, is NOT legal advice as I am not a Lawyer, and is worth exactly what you paid for it.... NOTHING!
 

Doug Huffman

Banned
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
9,180
Location
Washington Island, across Death's Door, Wisconsin,
Hey! You pick nits so I figured I'd do it as well! If he has some sort of government clearance and received a top secret email then it would be illegal, however, I would ASSuME Dustin would know that. :)
BTDT A top secret clear text e-mail is an oxymoron.

In my work - far from TS - we were seldom even allowed to type/re-type our work, but had to Xerox, cut and paste the good words. A typed page required the typewriter ribbon be destroyed THEN. The only non-volatile memory in our computers, once we got them, was a Bernoulli Box that had to go in the safe when you left your desk. (This was a long time ago, before some of you were born.)

Our shredders did like sixteenth-inch cross cut strips that only reduced the classification by one increment. The shreds had to go into a burn bag, be sealed and initialed. When it was burned then that had to be certified. Imagine then the consternation when the embassy was taken over and the shredded stuff reassembled! Imagine the shiite when Rickover went aboard the icebreaker Lenin and saw his S1W engine room!

It was about this time in my career when we wrote a program to make HTTP - that we were prohibited - look like SMTP e-mail and hacked our way out onto the World Wide Web. Dman but that was fun!
 

bigdaddy1

Regular Member
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
1,320
Location
Southsider der hey
Once the email is sent to you, it is your property or domain. If you choose to post it then it is your right. It may not make you popular with whom ever sent it, but it is not illegal.
 

J.Gleason

Banned
Joined
May 1, 2009
Messages
3,481
Location
Chilton, Wisconsin, USA
I have to say I am as confused as you are Dustin. I posted Jordan Austin's (NRA Rep) email in the forum both last fall and again this fall after he election. He gave me permission last fall. This fall he gets all pissed off and calls me every name in the book.

Where I get confused is WCI posted his email in a mass emailing and there was no reaction. Makes no sense to me. I don't think anyone here sent him a "bad" email.
 

Shotgun

Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
Joined
Aug 23, 2006
Messages
2,668
Location
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
BTDT A top secret clear text e-mail is an oxymoron.

In my work - far from TS - we were seldom even allowed to type/re-type our work, but had to Xerox, cut and paste the good words. A typed page required the typewriter ribbon be destroyed THEN. The only non-volatile memory in our computers, once we got them, was a Bernoulli Box that had to go in the safe when you left your desk. (This was a long time ago, before some of you were born.)

Our shredders did like sixteenth-inch cross cut strips that only reduced the classification by one increment. The shreds had to go into a burn bag, be sealed and initialed. When it was burned then that had to be certified. Imagine then the consternation when the embassy was taken over and the shredded stuff reassembled! Imagine the shiite when Rickover went aboard the icebreaker Lenin and saw his S1W engine room!

It was about this time in my career when we wrote a program to make HTTP - that we were prohibited - look like SMTP e-mail and hacked our way out onto the World Wide Web. Dman but that was fun!

Our shredder was a man and a half tall, so loud it required hearing protection, and turned documents into a fine gray powder similar to talc. I don't think we would have minded if the KGB had been given truckloads of the stuff once it was processed.
 

MKEgal

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
4,383
Location
in front of my computer, WI
Illegal? Probably not, esp. if you're the sender or intended recipient.
If it's from a public servant, esp. using their public-servant-domain email, then absolutely it's legal.

If you just mean to post the content & not the person's actual address, then that's a slightly different question.
Still not illegal in most cases if you're the sender or recipient.
Might not be the nicest thing to do, but if it's kept anonymous then I don't see a problem.

I have occasionally quoted bits from emails or PMs, but don't say who wrote it without permission (except if it's a public servant @ their job email).
 
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