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Freedman v. America Online, Inc.

303 F. Supp. 2d 121 (2004)

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Freedman v. America Online, Inc.

United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
303 F. Supp. 2d 121 (2004)

MJ

Facts

William Young and David Bensey (the officers) (defendants) were police officers performing an investigation. The officers filled out a search warrant application seeking information from America Online, Inc. (AOL) (defendant) regarding Clifton Freedman (plaintiff). The application, however, was never submitted to a judge for completion and never bore a judicial signature. Nonetheless, several days later, AOL responded to the officers’ request with Freedman’s subscriber information, such as his name, address, and phone number. In response, Freedman sued the officers for (among other things) violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA). Freedman claimed that the officers violated the ECPA by seeking his information from AOL without a valid search warrant. Eventually, Freedman moved for summary judgment on the issue of whether the officers violated the ECPA. The officers opposed the motion, arguing (among other things) that (1) they merely requested, but did not require, that AOL produce the information and (2) there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether AOL produced the information under an emergency exception in the ECPA.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Dorsey, J.)

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