When WebTV users visited these sites, the codes grabbed their email accounts and started pumping out messages. It turns out, the law may not always be able to help. Legal experts warn that our privacy protection rights are fragile and uncertain. More than once, courts have forced online service providers to turn over subscriber names, phone numbers, and other information. If you re involved in a lawsuit, you can be forced to recover and divulge emails you sent a long time ago.
Many cases involve information posted on message boards.
In fact, all online communication tools are becoming frequent targets of law enforcement investigation. The legal climate is unsettled. Some 131 Internet or electronic mail privacy bills are pending in 31 states. At the same time, a federal commission assigned to study Internet law has urged Uncle Sam to strip away anonymity from the Web. They want to allow real-time tracing of Internet communications across traditional jurisdictional boundaries, in order to track criminals who use the Net to commit crimes and hide their identities.