Let's discuss the frozen head of L. Ron Hubbard
Tilman Hausherr
Look what I found about Keith Henson... He's a winner :-)
And then, let's discuss the frozen head of L. Ron Hubbard.
===
Alcor/Email suit pays off!
< hkhe...@cup.portal.com >
Sat, 6 Jul 91 13:23:56 PDT
The long running Alcor/email case against the County and City of Riverside, CA
was settled out of court in April of this year. The announcement was delayed
until all parties had signed off, and the check had cleared the bank :-).
The Alcor Life Extension Foundation (a non-profit cryonics organization
--al...@cup.portal.com) ran a BBS for members and prospective members from
early 1987 through January 12, 1988. On that day, the BBS computer was removed
under a warrant to take the computer (but no mention of any contained email) in
connection with the investigation into the death of 83-year-old Dora Kent.
(Mrs. Kent was placed into cryonic suspension by Alcor in December of 1987.
During and following the investigation, Alcor staff members were publicly
accused by county officials of murder, theft, and building code violations. No
charges were ever filed and the investigation was officially closed three years
later.)
In December of 1988 Keith Henson filed a civil suit to force an investigation
of the apparent violations of the Electronic Communication Privacy Act by the
FBI, but the case was dismissed by the now convicted Judge Aguilar.
In early 1990, just before the statute of limitations ran out, Henson and
14 others (of the roughly 50 people who had email on the system) filed a
civil action against a number of officials and the County and City of
Riverside, CA under Section 2707 of the Electronic Communication Privacy
Act which forbids inspecting or denying access to email without a warrant.
Some time after the case was filed, the Electronic Frontier Foundation came
into existence in response to law enforcement abuses involving a wide spectrum
of the online community. EFF considered this case an important one, and helped
the plaintiffs in the case by locating pro bono legal help. While the case was
being transferred, the County and City offered a settlement which was close to
the maximum damages which could have been obtained at trial. Although no
precedent was set because the case did not go to trial, considerable legal
research has been done, and one judgment issued in response to the Defendants'
Motion to Dismiss. The legal filings and the responses they generated from the
law firm representing the County/City and officials are available by email from
mnem...@eff.org or (with delay) from hkhe...@cup.portal.com. (They are also
posted on Portal.)
The Plaintiffs were represented by Christopher Ashworth of Garfield, Tepper,
Ashworth and Epstein in Los Angeles (408-277-1981). The only significant item
in the settlement agreement was the $30k payment to the plaintiffs.
Tilman Hausherr
My message vanished from Keith's ISP. Here his response:
In article <32aa3972...@news.snafu.de> you wrote:
: Look what I found about Keith Henson... He's a winner :-)
: And then, let's discuss the frozen head of L. Ron Hubbard.
: ===
: Alcor/Email suit pays off!
: < hkhe...@cup.portal.com >
Portal went out of the ISP business in the last few months. hkhenson@
netcom.com is currently good, ke...@xanadu.com will also work
(forwarded).
: Sat, 6 Jul 91 13:23:56 PDT
: The long running Alcor/email case against the County and City of Riverside, CA
: was settled out of court in April of this year. The announcement was delayed
: until all parties had signed off, and the check had cleared the bank :-).
:
: The Alcor Life Extension Foundation (a non-profit cryonics organization
: --al...@cup.portal.com)
Long defunct. Use in...@alcor.org
: ran a BBS for members and prospective members from
: early 1987 through January 12, 1988. On that day, the BBS computer was removed
: under a warrant to take the computer (but no mention of any contained email) in
: connection with the investigation into the death of 83-year-old Dora Kent.
: (Mrs. Kent was placed into cryonic suspension by Alcor in December of 1987.
: During and following the investigation, Alcor staff members were publicly
: accused by county officials of murder, theft, and building code violations. No
: charges were ever filed and the investigation was officially closed three years
: later.)
:
: In December of 1988 Keith Henson filed a civil suit to force an investigation
: of the apparent violations of the Electronic Communication Privacy Act by the
: FBI, but the case was dismissed by the now convicted Judge Aguilar.
:
: In early 1990, just before the statute of limitations ran out, Henson and
: 14 others (of the roughly 50 people who had email on the system) filed a
: civil action against a number of officials and the County and City of
: Riverside, CA under Section 2707 of the Electronic Communication Privacy
: Act which forbids inspecting or denying access to email without a warrant.
Alcor is now in Scottsdale, Arizona. When you are doing long term
storage of the type they do, earthquakes are a serious consideration.
: Some time after the case was filed, the Electronic Frontier Foundation came
: into existence in response to law enforcement abuses involving a wide spectrum
: of the online community. EFF considered this case an important one, and helped
: the plaintiffs in the case by locating pro bono legal help. While the case was
: being transferred, the County and City offered a settlement which was close to
: the maximum damages which could have been obtained at trial. Although no
: precedent was set because the case did not go to trial, considerable legal
: research has been done, and one judgment issued in response to the Defendants'
: Motion to Dismiss. The legal filings and the responses they generated from the
: law firm representing the County/City and officials are available by email from
: mnem...@eff.org or (with delay) from hkhe...@cup.portal.com. (They are also
: posted on Portal.)
Please don't bug mnemonic. I think this stuff is on the eff web site,
but if it is not, I can deal with requests, though the Steve Jackson
case is much more on point for ECPA (since it was even appealed).
: The Plaintiffs were represented by Christopher Ashworth of Garfield, Tepper,
: Ashworth and Epstein in Los Angeles (408-277-1981). The only significant item
: in the settlement agreement was the $30k payment to the plaintiffs.
Ashworth is no longer with this firm. Last I knew he was living in the
`
bay area. He might be an interesting search term, since (like a *lot*
of lawyers in the LA area) he was once involved in CoS litigation.
Keith Henson