What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
How easy would it be for someone to change the content of an email that you have sent the person, and then to forward the bogus email to other parties, with the intent to embarrass the sender or to get him or her into some other sort of trouble?
For example, 'John Smith' and 'Mary Smith' are siblings who despise each other. They haven't spoken to one another in years, but recently both of their parents have passed away. John is now Trustee of the family trust, and Mary is a beneficiary. Suddenly, there are practical issues that need to be discussed.
Mary sends John an email inquiring about an aspect of the Trust, or other related financial issues. Without Mary's consent, John forwards the email to the family Trust lawyer, to Mary's financial advisor, and to several other people. However, John has changed the content of Mary's email with the intention of embarrassing her and trying to ruin her reputation.
While the screen may read: At 7:04 pm, Mary Smith wrote:
In fact, Mary did not write the email that is being forwarded by John. Mary may have written some words or sentences of said email, but John has 'tweaked' the email, adding words and phrases that Mary never wrote in the original. Mary ends up being cast in a very bad light and otherwise embarrassed in front of her colleagues.
What can Mary do to defend herself in such a situation? Has John committed a crime, and if so, what is the name of the crime?
I believe that Internet Service Providers keep records of all email exchanges, but for how long? Doesn't one need a subpoena in order to get these records? I'm sure the original unchanged email would also be somewhere in the 'Sent' folder of Mary's email, if she does indeed keep a folder of 'sent' emails. Sometimes 'sent' emails are saved; other times they are not saved. I know this data can likely be retrieved by a computer professional.
Thanks in advance.
How easy would it be for someone to change the content of an email that you have sent the person, and then to forward the bogus email to other parties, with the intent to embarrass the sender or to get him or her into some other sort of trouble?
For example, 'John Smith' and 'Mary Smith' are siblings who despise each other. They haven't spoken to one another in years, but recently both of their parents have passed away. John is now Trustee of the family trust, and Mary is a beneficiary. Suddenly, there are practical issues that need to be discussed.
Mary sends John an email inquiring about an aspect of the Trust, or other related financial issues. Without Mary's consent, John forwards the email to the family Trust lawyer, to Mary's financial advisor, and to several other people. However, John has changed the content of Mary's email with the intention of embarrassing her and trying to ruin her reputation.
While the screen may read: At 7:04 pm, Mary Smith wrote:
In fact, Mary did not write the email that is being forwarded by John. Mary may have written some words or sentences of said email, but John has 'tweaked' the email, adding words and phrases that Mary never wrote in the original. Mary ends up being cast in a very bad light and otherwise embarrassed in front of her colleagues.
What can Mary do to defend herself in such a situation? Has John committed a crime, and if so, what is the name of the crime?
I believe that Internet Service Providers keep records of all email exchanges, but for how long? Doesn't one need a subpoena in order to get these records? I'm sure the original unchanged email would also be somewhere in the 'Sent' folder of Mary's email, if she does indeed keep a folder of 'sent' emails. Sometimes 'sent' emails are saved; other times they are not saved. I know this data can likely be retrieved by a computer professional.
Thanks in advance.