The Spying on the Neighbor Fiasco

Don't watch this at work. 
Save it for later. 
Have a nice weekend. (video)

Yet another challenge to the 2-party consent eavesdropping laws

Using an iPhone to secretly record a conversation is not a violation of the Wiretap Act if done for legitimate purposes, a federal appeals court has ruled.

“The defendant must have the intent to use the illicit recording to commit a tort of crime beyond the act of recording itself,” (.pdf) the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

Friday’s decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which involves a civil lawsuit over a secret audio recording produced from the 99-cent Recorder app, mirrors decisions in at least three other federal appeals courts.

The lawsuit concerns a family dispute over the making of a dying mother’s will. Days before the Connecticut woman died, her son secretly recorded a kitchen conversation between the son, mother, stepfather and others over how to handle her estate after her death. (more)

SpyCam Story #580 - It's curtains for the staff.

East Malaysia - Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has denied a suggestion that he would reshuffle his office staff following the discovery of a hidden video camera in the office.

He said the State Government would first find out why the staff in his office had not detected the device. "If we find out it involved the staff in the Menteri Besar's office, then action will be taken against them.

Abdul Khalid stumbled upon a hidden video camera in a gap between the thick curtains in his office on Tuesday. (more)

Did you know... most eavesdropping devices are found by accident?

Imagine the results if people looked occasionally.
Don't want to do it yourself? 
Call the folks who bring you Kevin's Security Scrapbook.
It's what they do best.

Life, art and duffel bags...

Body of Missing British Spy
Found Stuffed in Bag 
in His Apartment
The body of an employee of Britain's spy agency MI6 has been found in a bag in a central London apartment where he may have been murdered two weeks ago, British media reports.

The body of Gareth Williams, 31, was found Monday stuffed in a large sports bag in his bath only a few hundred yards from MI6 headquarters, the Daily Mail reports.

MI6 gathers secret information about Britain's overseas enemies, making the spy a possible target of terrorists, the Mail says.

BBC's security correspondent says it is not clear what the victim did for MI-6, but that it is reported that he was on loan from the Government Communications Headquarters, the electronic eavesdropping agency, implying he was a technical expert. (more)

(more)

ACLU challenges Illinois eavesdropping act

Over the past few years, there have been several cases of people being arrested for recording police. The issue is the audio part of the recording. In some states, the law requires the consent of all parties to the conversation. The ACLU has taken notice... and exception to what they see as a double standard and a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

It's not unusual or illegal for police officers to flip on a camera as they get out of their squad car to talk to a driver they've pulled over.

But in Illinois, a civilian trying to make an audio recording of police in action is breaking the law.

"It's an unfair and destructive double standard," said Adam Schwartz, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

In its lawsuit, the ACLU pointed to six Illinois residents who have faced felony charges after being accused of violating the state's eavesdropping law for recording police making arrests in public venues.

On Wednesday, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago challenging the Illinois Eavesdropping Act, which makes it criminal to record not only private but also public conversations made without consent of all parties. (more)

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That Anthony Graber broke the law in early March is indisputable. He raced his Honda motorcycle down Interstate 95 in Maryland at 80 mph, popping a wheelie, roaring past cars and swerving across traffic lanes... Anthony Graber was arrested for posting a video of his traffic stop on YouTube. (video and report)

YouTube still features Graber’s encounter along with numerous other witness videos. "The message is clearly, ‘Don’t criticize the police,’" said David Rocah, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland who is part of Graber’s defense team. "With these charges, anyone who would even think to record the police is now justifiably in fear that they will also be criminally charged." Carlos Miller, a Miami journalist who runs the blog "Photography Is Not a Crime," said he has documented about 10 arrests since he started keeping track in 2007. (more)

"Bugging teacher... sweet-ish, fer sure."

Sweden - Two Stockholm schoolgirls have been taken to court for trying to bug their teachers during a grading conference. They were found out after one of them revealed all on Facebook.

The pair, who are in their early teens, came up with the idea after finding a key to the staff common room. They bought basic bugging equipment in a gadget shop, waited until the end of the school day, and planted the device in the staff room.

The girls, who attend a middle school in the capital, planned to listen in on a meeting the following day at which teachers would decide their grades. They were hoping to glean information that would enable them to get their grades improved.

The plan might have gone off without a hitch if one of the girls in her enthusiasm had not revealed all on Facebook, according to Metro. The girls were prosecuted for trespass and arbitrary conduct and fined 2,000 kronor ($270) each by Stockholm District Court. (more)

Business Espionage - Walt Disney Co.

The boyfriend of a former Walt Disney Co. administrative assistant admitted to engaging in a scheme to sell early access to the company's earnings report in U.S. district court in Manhattan Monday.

Yonni Sebbag, 30 years old, and his girlfriend Bonnie Hoxie, the former assistant to Disney's head of communications, allegedly contacted more than a dozen hedge funds and investment companies anonymously in March, offering to provide an early look at Disney's earnings.

"I disclosed material and nonpublic information about the Walt Disney Co. to outside investors," Mr. Sebbag said. (more)

Business Espionage - The Counterfeiters

A shopkeeper in Italy placed an order with a Chinese sneaker factory in Putian for 3,000 pairs of white Nike Tiempo indoor soccer shoes. It was early February, and the shopkeeper wanted the Tiempos pronto. Neither he nor Lin, the factory manager, were authorized to make Nikes. They would have no blueprints or instructions to follow. But Lin didn’t mind. He was used to working from scratch. A week later, Lin, who asked that I only use his first name, received a pair of authentic Tiempos, took them apart, studied their stitching and molding, drew up his own design and oversaw the production of 3,000 Nike clones. A month later, he shipped the shoes to Italy. “He’ll order more when there’s none left,” Lin told me recently, with confidence...

Counterfeiters played a low-budget game of industrial espionage, bribing employees at the licensed factories to lift samples or copy blueprints. Shoes were even chucked over a factory wall, according to a worker at one of Nike’s Putian factories. It wasn’t unusual for counterfeit models to show up in stores before the real ones did. (more)

Mandela's house 'was bugged'

It has been revealed that former president Nelson Mandela's Houghton house was bugged ahead the African National Congress's 2007 national conference. ...the listening device bug was discovered in the old Statesman's house by the police's VIP protection unit during a sweeping exercise. (more)

Oo-ee, oo-ee baby. Won't ya let me take you on a spy cruise?

Old man Panetta is runnin' my shoes
No use t'sittin' and a'singin' the blues
So be my snitch, you got nothin' to lose
Won't ya let me take you on a spy cruise? 
Hope aboard the S.S. Surreal below and sing-a-long.

Michael Hayden, the former CIA Director, has always asserted that “the war on terrorism is inherently an intelligence war.” This November, the “SPY CRUISE” will be sailing. On the cruise everything you wanted to know about intelligence but could not ask will be discussed, that is except classified information. NewsReal Blog interviewed four of the speakers to get their take on what will be discussed. (more)

SpyCruise® is a private group aboard a cruise ship where members attend exclusive lectures and talks on espionage, spies, intelligence, counterterrorism and more. Speakers are intelligence experts, leaders, officers, operatives, analysts, authors and historians, many of whom served in the US Intelligence Community. Each cruise we choose a different ship, a different destination and a different agenda.

SpyCruise® is a unique opportunity for anyone interested in the topic of intelligence to meet and learn from real experts in the intelligence field as well as others who share the same interest in this topic and history, world affairs, intelligence, military, books, etc. Lectures are normally once a day and the rest of the time is yours to enjoy the cruise ship and its excursions at different destinations. (more)

NEXT SPYCRUISE: November 13-20, 2010 in the Caribbean

Extra credit: Intellectual property transfer, or not? 

You decide.

Sea Cruise & Rockin' Pneumonia 

Sweet Little Sixteen & Surfin' USA

Business Espionage - Bratz v. Barbie

The maker of Bratz dolls accused Mattel Inc. of spying on its rivals and stealing trade secrets for at least 15 years, as the ongoing legal battle between the two toymakers turns nastier.

Bratz maker MGA Entertainment Inc. alleges employees for Mattel, maker of the rival Barbie doll, used fake name badges to gain entry to private showrooms of MGA, Hasbro Inc., and other toy manufacturers, according to a federal filing late Monday.

In the court papers, MGA also alleges Mattel secretly photographed new toy product designs at toy fairs held in different countries.

The allegations are part of the dirty doll laundry that will be aired in the retrial of the Bratz doll copyright infringement case, set for Jan. 11 in Santa Ana, Calif. (more)

M-I-Cee (see you real soon) K-E-Y (why...)

Walt Disney’s Internet subsidiary, along with several partners, are being sued for allegedly spying on minors. (Complaint) (coffee cup) Have a nice read.

"Tap'em Dano!"

Don't have a voice recorder handy?

Clumsy with tech gear?

No problem. MyPhoneTap.com to the rescue.

from the website...

Record Your Business Calls
Don't miss a single important detail! Now you can pull up that call from three months ago within seconds. Is a team member going to miss an important conference call? Record it for them!

Record Your Friends
Can't remember when or where the party is going to be? You could listen to the call again if you had a recording of it.

Record Your Enemies
Do you feel threatened? Is someone harassing you? Record the call for the proof you need. (more)

Nice touch...

FAQ
Is recording my phone calls legal?

Yes! There are currently twelve states in the USA that require both parties involved to know that the conversation is being recorded. If the person you are calling is in one of those states we will prompt you to notify them that the call is being recorded. For international calls we will always prompt you to notify the person you are calling.

Why do I mention it?

So you will know what you are up against!

And you though every country already wiretapped.

St Kitts and Nevis’ Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Patrice Nisbett, has expressed confidence that the proposed Interception of Communication Bill that will allow wiretapping, contains built-in safeguards to prevent abuse and protect political freedoms. (more)

What's in Your Boardroom?

"Wouldn't it be nice if all boardrooms were equipped like this. So that when the teleconference microphone was ON, a sign lights." ...via my esteemed colleague from the North.