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Penalty in UK for email interception

Clifford Stanford, the founder of Demon Internet and Redbus and Codefendant George Liddell, a former employee of Redbus, pleaded guilty to email interception. Both men were sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for two years. Stanford was also fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,000 towards prosecution costs.

Stanford and Liddell were charged under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 with intercepting emails belonging to John Porter, son of Dame Shirley Porter and former chairman of Redbus.

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Clifford Stanford and the founder of Demon and Redbus and George Liddell, a former employee of Redbus., went on trial in September 20005 over charges of unlawful email interception.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,39217975,00.htm

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (c.23) (RIP or RIPA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of communications. It was introduced to take account of technological change such as the growth of the Internet and strong encryption.

RIPA can be invoked by government officials specified in the Act on the grounds of national security, and for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime, preventing disorder, public safety, protecting public health, or in the interests of the economic well-being of the United Kingdom.

Reference : http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/ukpga_20000023_en_1