From: bebeada@ripco.com (Adam Beberg)
Subject: ACM Computers Seized By IIT
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 04:43:26 GMT

ACM COMPUTERS SEIZED BY ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Dateline January 17, 1995

Today sometime before noon today, the Illinois Institute of Technology seized
the computer systems of the Association for Computing Machinery student chapter
at IIT.

700 Student and Faculty users are not happy.

And are now without their Email and other private files. The locations of the
ACM systems is currently unknown, and the security of the system and the
accounts on it is highly questionable, as it was quite literally riped out of
the wall. ( a piece of the modem was found lying on the table ).

The reasons given by IIT where that members of ACM are suspected of hacking
into the computer of another IIT student group, and pulling several pranks.
The memo sent to the Dean of Students details the hacking attempt, but no
evidence points to ACM's systems or to any of their users, but the memo does
make several unbacked accusations. And at this time, we can see no reason ACM
would even be tied to the events. However because ACM members are suspect, the
systems where unlawfully seized by IIT.

IIT has no legal right to seize ACM's systems, nor anyone else, as they contain
private accounts, files, and Email.
Such rights are protected under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
(ECPA), which extended most of the protections of the federal Wiretap Act
("Title III") to electronic mail.
Precidence was established in the case Secret Service vs. Steve Jackson Games
decided March 12, 1993

Needless to say, ACM members are not too happy about all of this.
And the other 700 people don't seem happy either.

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The ongoing saga will appear at http://rci.ripco.com:8080/~bebeada/ACM.html