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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: username who wrote (31533)	1/21/1998 11:40:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

**OT* Pete, I could not resist: Click Here for More Information Headlines Next Story **McVeigh Still In Navy Pending Court Ruling Newsbytes - January 21, 1998 22:38 %LEGAL %WAS AOL V%NEWSBYTES P%NBYT WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1998 JAN 21 (NB) -- By Bill Pietrucha, Newsbytes. Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy R. McVeigh is still in the Navy, at least until midnight this Friday, the deadline for US District Court Judge Stanley Sporkin to rule whether to issue a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction against the Navy discharging McVeigh. McVeigh was targeted for dismissal earlier this month after Naval investigators determined McVeigh violated the US military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuality by putting the word "gay" as his marital status in an America Online [NYSE:AOL] profile. But in response to a lawsuit filed in US District Court for the District of Columbia by McVeigh's attorneys, government attorneys delayed the discharge at least until after today's preliminary hearing on the merits of the lawsuit. Navy policy, however, restricts the Navy from discharging personnel while on leave, so McVeigh, no relation to the convicted Oklahoma City bomber, will remain in the Navy until he returns to active duty this Friday. McVeigh's suit charges that Naval investigators violated the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), when they requested and received confidential subscriber information from AOL without a court order. ECPA, which became law in 1986, bars Internet service providers (ISPs) from knowingly releasing personal information on subscribers to law enforcement officials without a court order. "Judge Sporkin was critical of both sides in today's hearing," Kevin Winston of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network told Newsbytes. "He questioned why McVeigh would knowingly use the word "gay" in his America Online profile, knowing full well the Navy's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, and also criticized the Navy on their apparent violation of the law in investigating McVeigh." According to McVeigh, who has served in the Navy for the past 17 years, most recently as Senior CPO on the nuclear USS Chicago, his troubles started last September when he sent e-mail from his AOL account to a civilian Navy employee about the ages of children of sailors stationed on the USS Chicago. McVeigh said he was organizing a toy giveaway for Christmas and used his e-mail account before heading back out to sea. After the employee searched through AOL's directory of online name profiles, he found that the sailor had listed "gay" as his marital status and reported it to his superiors. At a discharge hearing last November, naval investigator Joseph Kaiser testified he spoke with a "gentleman named Owen" in America Online's technical services, and asked to confirm the ownership of the profile. Earlier today, America Online released a statement admitting "human error" on its part, but accusing the Navy of misleading its customer service representative "both by failing to disclose his identity and purpose and by portraying himself as a friend or acquaintance of Senior Chief McVeigh's." AOL's statement said the company plans to institute "additional measures" to enforce the company's privacy policies and procedures. AOL also sent a letter to the Department of the Navy, expressing its concern that "the Navy deliberately ignored both federal law and well-established procedures for handling government inquiries about AOL members." Judge Sporkin, however, remarked to McVeigh in court today that "it seems you certainly have a good case against AOL." McVeigh declined to say whether he would pursue legal action against AOL, saying he first wanted to resolve his discharge suit against the Navy. The US Navy has no immediate comment on today's proceedings. David Sobel, legal counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told Newsbytes that the "information was received from AOL in clear violation of ECPA, which prohibits the government from obtaining 'information pertaining to a subscriber,' without a court order or subpoena. And in addition to the privacy protections contained in ECPA, AOL's contractual 'Terms of Service' prohibit the company from disclosing such information to any third party 'unless required to do so by law or legal process,'" he said. "This case is an important test of federal privacy law," Sobel said. "It will determine whether government agents can violate the law with impunity, or whether they will be held accountable for illegal conduct in cyberspace." Sobel added that the incident also raises serious questions concerning the adequacy of contractual privacy protections like those contained in the AOL subscriber agreement. Reported by Newsbytes News Network: newsbytes.com (19980121/Press & Reader Contact: David L. Sobel, EPIC, 202- 544-9240 /AOLNAVY/PHOTO) Headlines Next Story Search for: Enter Stock Symbols (eg: IBM, T, GM) or Company Name. 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