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CA8: Joins other circuits holding P2P file sharing is a waiver of expectation of privacy in a computer

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Using a peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing program for sharing child pornography is a waiver of any expectation of privacy in the computer to anybody who could access it. United States v. Stults, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 18130 (8th Cir. August 14, 2009): Several federal courts have rejected the argument that an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her personal computer when file-sharing software, such as LimeWire, is installed. See, e.g., United States v. Ganoe, 538 F.3d 1117, 1127 (9th Cir. 2008) (holding that the defendant lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy in the downloaded files stored on his computer, meaning that an agent's use of a file-sharing software program to access child pornography files on the computer did not violate the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights); United States v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 15, 2009 (boomark / email).