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can "PM's" be used against you in a court of law?

WhiteMaleRatWhiteMaleRat Posts: 301
edited June 2006 in Technical Stuff and Help
just wondering how "private" they really are...
"This guy back here is giving me the ole one more....one more back to you buddy."

- Mr. Edward Vedder 7/11/03


Post edited by Unknown User on

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    Marie CurieMarie Curie Posts: 1,250
    what did you do?? :D
    “Life is life everywhere. Life is in ourselves and not outside us. There will be men beside me, and the important thing is to be a man among men and to remain a man always, whatever the misfortunes, not to despair and not to fall - that is the aim of life, that is its purpose.”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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    WhiteMaleRatWhiteMaleRat Posts: 301
    Marie Curie wrote:
    what did you do?? :D

    ha nothing yet!
    "This guy back here is giving me the ole one more....one more back to you buddy."

    - Mr. Edward Vedder 7/11/03


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    fractusfractus Posts: 67
    I would have to say yes they can be used against you. They use peoples emails in legal battles all the time. There is nothing that says your PM's are legally private. Probably wouldnt matter if there was anyway. So dont confess a murder to your buddy on AIM. they'll get ya
    An alien at home behind the sun
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    ZanneZanne Posts: 899
    Nothing on the internet is private. Forget about it, really. It's a shame.

    -peace
    Just me
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    OmahaJammerOmahaJammer Posts: 261
    I think what he/she is getting at is: Can Kat/Seat/Tim/whoever read our PM's?
    Could person "A" get in trouble for selling a pair of tickets/poster/benaroya vinyl to person "B" for way over face value? A good question...but not one that concerns most of us.
    ******************************
    Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm....
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    LizardLizard So Cal Posts: 12,073
    OmahaJammer wrote:
    I think what he/she is getting at is: Can Kat/Seat/Tim/whoever read our PM's?
    Could person "A" get in trouble for selling a pair of tickets/poster/benaroya vinyl to person "B" for way over face value? A good question...but not one that concerns most of us.

    That's why you would use your own e-mail, no?!!!
    So I'll just lie down and wait for the dream
    Where I'm not ugly and you're lookin' at me
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    AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
    SSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..the "man" is watching
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    patchesHoulihanpatchesHoulihan Posts: 42
    Did you threaten someone's life?
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    yosi1yosi1 Posts: 3,272
    Obviously the person is selling kiddie porn through their PM, duh!
    you couldn't swing if you were hangin' from a palm tree in a hurricane.
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    elevation622elevation622 Posts: 926
    PMs can be used against you anywhere. I got hit with one on the street and let me tell you, that fucker hurt.
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    bostonloubostonlou Posts: 2,849
    OmahaJammer wrote:
    I think what he/she is getting at is: Can Kat/Seat/Tim/whoever read our PM's?
    Could person "A" get in trouble for selling a pair of tickets/poster/benaroya vinyl to person "B" for way over face value? A good question...but not one that concerns most of us.


    how much are you offering for the vinyl?? ;)



    nothing on the internet is private... that's a fact
    Don't Believe Everything You Think
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    patchesHoulihanpatchesHoulihan Posts: 42
    elevation622 wrote:
    PMs can be used against you anywhere. I got hit with one on the street and let me tell you, that fucker hurt.
    You got hit by a PM. Call Dane Shulman.... He'll get you money for your pain and suffering:
    http://www.daneshulman.com/Bio/DoreneAllenEngland.asp
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    OmahaJammerOmahaJammer Posts: 261
    bostonlou wrote:
    how much are you offering for the vinyl?? ;)



    nothing on the internet is private... that's a fact



    Unfortunately, I do not have Benaroya Vinyl....but I wouldn't pay more than $30 for it. It is rare, yes...but I think it's one of the most overrated Pearl Jam collectibles out there. Although, it is possible that I only feel that way because I do not have one.
    ******************************
    Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm....
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    elevation622elevation622 Posts: 926
    Patches thanks, but I don't think I'd hand that guy a bag of shit and expect it back. It looks like hes to busy on the phone to help me.
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    LongRoadLongRoad Posts: 421
    I've never even understood how E-Mails can be used in court.

    E-Mails and PM's for that fact can be edited to anything you want them to be.
    If someone sends me an E-Mail I can edit it and make it look like they said something totally different.
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    decides2dreamdecides2dream Posts: 14,976
    bostonlou wrote:



    nothing on the internet is private... that's a fact



    exactly.
    you write it down - even in cyberspace, whomever you correspond to can save it, print it out, distribute it. i find it fascinating that the more computer-savvy generation would not know this already. it's all 'out there'...and yes, i do actually believe the admin could go into your PMs as well, not that i think they ever would/do...but perhaps with pending legislation, they could be asked, who knows. point is, PMs, IMs, e-mail = no privacy nor protections.
    Stay with me...
    Let's just breathe...


    I am myself like you somehow


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    Heatherj43Heatherj43 Posts: 1,254
    LongRoad wrote:
    I've never even understood how E-Mails can be used in court.

    E-Mails and PM's for that fact can be edited to anything you want them to be.
    If someone sends me an E-Mail I can edit it and make it look like they said something totally different.
    I know, yet they are used in court all the time. I don't get it.
    Save room for dessert!
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    soulsingingsoulsinging Posts: 13,208
    Heatherj43 wrote:
    I know, yet they are used in court all the time. I don't get it.

    there's also the additinoal trouble of it being rather difficult to prove that even if the text weren't altered, who's to say it was you that wrote it?
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    Heatherj43Heatherj43 Posts: 1,254
    soulsinging wrote:
    there's also the additinoal trouble of it being rather difficult to prove that even if the text weren't altered, who's to say it was you that wrote it?
    So how come judges allow them. Do you happen to know? I have seen them used in small claim cases and things like that.
    I am wondering if judges are just not that computer savvy and actually believe they cannot be altered or falsified.

    I sued the guy who sold me this computer in small claims and when I had to explain to the judge why I was suing, I was unsure how much the judge knew about computers. I didn't want to treat her as stupid, but I also didn't want to speak over her head, so I outright asked her. She said she did not know much, so then I was able to speak in easier terms for her to undertsand how the guy ripped me off. (I won my case, by the way).

    I am wondering why judges allow emails to be used in court. I know I would never depend on them to prove anything.
    Save room for dessert!
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    markymark550markymark550 Columbia, SC Posts: 5,110
    LongRoad wrote:
    I've never even understood how E-Mails can be used in court.

    E-Mails and PM's for that fact can be edited to anything you want them to be.
    If someone sends me an E-Mail I can edit it and make it look like they said something totally different.
    if the content is not disputed by either side, then it may be used in court without having to go through any trouble

    if the content is disputed, the court would need to contact the administrators of both parties' email server. email servers can log just about anything from a message including size, date sent, date received, and text of the message to a database. if either server logs the text of the message, it would be easy to retrieve the text stored on the server and compare it to what the person printed out.

    the same could be applied to PMs as message boards use a database to log both public and private messages.
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