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Acting COO Fired for Eavesdropping

File photo. Not Charlotte.
Charlotte Mampane, the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) acting chief operations officer, who was caught on security camera eavesdropping outside a board meeting earlier this year, has stepped down from the post…

At the meeting in question, Solly Mokoetle, the SABC’s chief executive, was discussing Mampane’s performance, as he apparently wanted to remove her from her acting position. Her eavesdropping was discovered after she sent a text message asking why certain allegations had been made about her in the meeting. The board requested security camera footage, which allegedly showed that she listened outside the boardroom door for about 20 minutes. (more)

By on 14/11/2010

"What did you say your name was?"

CA – The former chief executive of the Sacramento area’s largest independent real estate firm was arrested early Wednesday morning for secretly recording guests in his homes, says Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully… Investigators interviewed the three women, identified as Jane Doe #1, Jane Doe #2, and Jane Doe #3, who said they did not know or consent to the videotaping
Lyon, 54, was arrested by sheriff’s deputies at his home in Carmichael and was booked into Sacramento County Jail. Jail records show Lyon was arrested on four felony counts of electronic eavesdropping on separate occasions, with bail set at $60,000.
After posting bail, the former CEO of Lyon Real Estate told reporters the charges are “all allegations.” “I am intent on clearing my good name.” (more)

By on 11/11/2010

"If it wasn’t the guards, it must be the cleaners."

Australia – A Tasmanian cleaner who stole State Government documents, and leaked them to the Opposition and the media, has been sentenced to 84 hours of community service… Outside court, Nigel John Jones maintained his innocence and said he will appeal against the conviction. (more)

By on 09/11/2010

Open Season on Marital Bugging and Tapping in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

A Texas court has ruled that a husband accused of monitoring his wife’s computer through a keystroke logger did not violate federal wiretapping laws. 

Larry Bagley was sued in June by his wife Rhea Bagley, who accused him of surreptitiously placing audio recording devices in their house as well as a software keystroke logger. The Bagleys are in the process of divorcing.

The complaint in this civil case says that during the divorce proceedings, the husband revealed the existence of the surveillance tech and acknowledged that the “software recorded screenshots of activity on this computer.” The husband replied in court documents that “in all conversations, the defendants’ children were present and defendant was able to consent to recordation by way of vicarious consent.”

U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal ruled on October 18 in favor of the husband, saying that the court was required to follow a Fifth Circuit decision saying that the federal wiretap law known as Title III does not apply to marital relationships.

Here are some excerpts from the court’s opinion:
Whether Title III provides a remedy for interspousal wiretapping within the marital home is a question that has divided the federal courts of appeal. The Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits have held that such wiretapping is actionable under Title III. The Second and Fifth Circuits have held that Title III does not apply to interspousal wiretaps. (more)

P.S. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit includes:

By on 03/11/2010

Industrial Espionage Case Expands

Silicon Valley is bracing itself for fireworks as a long-running intellectual property and industrial espionage dispute between two of the most powerful names in technology finally reaches court.
Oracle is suing its arch-rival SAP for exploiting what it says were illegal downloads of Oracle software code three years ago, and the case has now dragged in another technology titan, Hewlett-Packard, which hired the former SAP boss Leo Apotheker to be its chief executive a month ago. (more)

“A few weeks ago I accused HP’s new CEO, Leo Apotheker, of overseeing an industrial espionage scheme centring on the repeated theft of massive amounts of Oracle’s software,” Mr Ellison said in a statement released this week. (more)

By on 03/11/2010