> Anonymous[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>
>
> For the lawyers and lawyer larvae out there...
>
> In an article in the San Francisco Bay Guardian this week, there is an
> article about MUNI's policy of making audio recordings of passengers.
>
> <quote>
> Nathan Ballard of the City Attorney's Office told the Bay Guardian that
> they were well aware of the policy and approved it. "There are no
> expectations of privacy in public," he said. Ballard asserted that the
> policy was constitutional and did not fall under any wiretapping laws.
> When asked if all of the vehicles that employ this surveillance policy
> post signs to inform passengers that their conversations are being
> recorded, he said, "This policy does not require signs."
> </quote>
>
> Frankly, if I'm sitting in the back of an empty bus, talking to the person
> next to me, it's my opinion that there certainly is a reasonable expection
> of privacy. Does anyone more qualified than I care to tell me why I'm
> right or wrong?
>
> Legal or not, I'm also curious to see what the EFF has to say about this
> wonderful incarnation of Big Brother.
>
> http://www.sfbg.com/SFLife/35/51/cult.html
>
MUNI is breaking the law.
http://www.rcfp.org/taping/
Peter Trei
---------------------------
Cal. Penal Code ' 631, 632 (Deering 1999): It is a crime
in California to intercept or eavesdrop upon any
confidential communication, including a telephone call or
wire communication, without the consent of all parties.
It is also a crime to disclose information obtained from
such an interception. A first offense is punishable by a
fine of up to $2,500 and imprisonment for no more than
one year. Subsequent offenses carry a maximum fine of
$10,000 and jail sentence of up to one year.
Eavesdropping upon or recording a conversation,
whether by telephone (including cordless or cellular
telephone) or in person, that a person would reasonably
expect to be confined to the parties present, carries the
same penalty as intercepting telephone or wire
communications. Conversations occurring at any public
gathering that one should expect to be overheard,
including any legislative, judicial or executive proceeding
open to the public, are not covered by the law.
Anyone injured by a violation of the wiretapping laws
can recover civil damages of $5,000 or three times
actual damages, whichever is greater. Cal. Penal Code '
637.2(a) (Deering 1999).
An appellate court has ruled that using a hidden video
camera violates the statute. California v. Gibbons, 215
Cal. App. 3d 1204 (1989).
------------------------------
