The News... Police arrested a man they say caused a disturbance at a Honda dealership and who, it was later discovered, had been recording the exchange with a voice recorder in his pocket. Chi Quang Truong, 46, of 63 Flanders Road, Westborough, was arrested at 2:05 p.m. Friday at Bernardi Honda on Worcester Street... Truong has been charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, trespassing, unlawful wiretapping and possessing a device for wiretapping. (more)
The Views (#1)...
Silliest 'wiretapping' charges ever recorded
In my view it's the federal law and 38 "one-party consent" states that have this one called correctly, and the 12 others that have some explaining to do. The justification for criminalizing self-authorized self-recording has never been made clear to me; best I get from friends and colleagues is that being recorded without one's knowledge "is creepy." Yes it is, or at least in can be in some cases. But so is charging a guy with "wiretapping" just because he tossed a nutty at a car dealership. (more)
The Views (#2)...
Don't you need a wire to get charged with wiretapping?
I thought so too, and the theory here is that since Truong didn't have explicit permission to record the conversation (memories of Linda Tripp), he was slapped with the additional charges. In 12 states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington) you're required to get the permission of all parties on the line before making any kind of recording. In the rest of the country, any single member that's part of the conversation can legally record it without consent from the other parties. And as Network World notes, wiretapping laws largely extend to in-person communications now, so no wire is required. Still, does the punishment really fit the crime? Wiretapping is a class D felony, and that can mean (based on my admittedly limited understanding of criminal statutes) up to 12 years in prison. (more)
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