A federal appeals court in Boston last week reinstated criminal charges against a rare book dealer who allegedly intercepted incoming messages to customers from online retailer Amazon.com. The book
dealer, Bradford Councilman--who also provided Internet service and e-mail accounts to his clients--had argued that he didn't "intercept" the messages, and therefore couldn't be prosecuted under
wiretap laws. But the First Circuit last week found that the wiretap laws covered the charges.
-- Wendy Davis
