Nigel Metheringham wrote:
> On Thu, 2005-01-20 at 02:01 +0200, Alon wrote:
>
>>It need to be Bcc'ed /secret dump, call it at any name. This is legitimate
>>business need, and the users are
>>aware of the 'spying' process as this is a brokerage firm and ever since the
>>Enron ordeal, everyone is
>>very careful about their business and that company wants to comply with the
>>SEC or whatever agency that
>>govern this medium.
>
>
> Get written competent legal advice.
>
> Nigel.
Second that advice.
Add also that it is *unwise* to attempt to run
whatever-form-of-fascist-logging a client may be able to justify on a
server that is also running even *one* unrelated firm's traffic - let
alone an arbitrarily large number of virtually-hosted 'ordinary' accounts.
A client-site mail host, for example, puts the burden - and the
archiving - where it belongs.
The legal ramifications are complex enough without a mixed user environment.
This is neither new nor rocket science.
Some form of this sort of archiving/logging - be it government,
military, dominant-carrier international telco, or 'International Record
Carrier' (IRC) - has been in use for well over a century.
Concise and reasonably accurate overview can be found here:
http://www.iridis.com/glivar/Telegraphy
Not specifically mentioned but the "R" in "IRC" also had to do with
these 'disinterested third parties' keeping copies of all traffic - for
years - making it easier to rely on such messages as legally binding
than is ordinarily the case with e-mail.
Millions of Telex and TWX lines are still in use, though mostly emulated
and with hard disks having supplanted torn-tape.....
Cheap, cheerful, reliable, and 'fit for the purpose'. No bit-bloat there.
YMMV,
Bill Hacker
