The Great Zero Challenge

[Roland Perry]

In article <48C46E1B.6090709@zen.co.uk>, Peter Fairbrother 
<zenadsl6186@zen.co.uk> writes
>The last situation is when the contents of an unpriviliged 
>communication comes into the hands of a third party. If it has come by 
>interception I think (haven't checked) it's illegal under RIPA to 
>reproduce it.
>
>However if it has come into the hands of third party by chance, or by 
>some other means not involving interception, then I'm not so sure.

You are adding frills that don't exist (on the face of the Act, anyway).

It's quite simple: an illegal [1] interception on a public network is a 
criminal offence - whatever [2] you do with the material. If it's on a 
private network it's not illegal but you can be sued for damages [3].

[1] There are some exceptions, like warrants and ISP staff.
[2] It has to be "made available" to a person, but yourself will do.
[3] There's an interesting thread today on uk.legal.moderated about
     whether in general "distress" can result in damages, but the view
     seems to be that a "loss" is required.
-- 
Roland Perry