NEW ENGLAND LEGAL FOUNDATION URGES SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT TO LIMIT MASSIVE CORPORATE LIABILITY UNDER STATE WIRETAP LAW
March 13, 2024
BOSTON – The New England Legal Foundation (NELF – www.newenglandlegal.org), the leading public interest law firm advocating free enterprise in New England, today filed an amicus friend-of-court brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court urging the Court to reverse a Trial Court decision that would result in massive liability risk for all companies and organizations that use the internet for their operations.
The case, Vita v. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, involves a plaintiff’s claim that company websites that track website traffic and advertising software that collects user data and transmits such information to a third party violate the state anti-wiretap law. Violations of the state’s wiretap law could expose companies to massive civil liability and criminal consequences.
“This case points to a great opportunity for the Legislature to update this statute to apply to modern technology,” said NELF President Dan Winslow. “It should not be left to the Trial Court to teach an old law new tricks; that is more appropriately the role of the Legislature,” noted Winslow. “The decision imposing liability below should be reversed,” urged Winslow.
“There can be little doubt concerning the technological limitations of a law dating from an era when the Beatles were still together, direct long-distance dialing was still a novelty, and DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) had just started a top-secret research program that would lead, years later, to the modern internet,” said NELF Staff Attorney John Pagliaro, who authored the brief.
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About the New England Legal Foundation:
Founded in 1977, the New England Legal Foundation (NELF – www.newenglandlegal.org) is the leading non-partisan, non-profit public interest law firm in the region dedicated to economic liberty. NELF’s ongoing mission is to champion free enterprise, property rights, limited government based on rule of law, and inclusive economic growth. We believe that free enterprise is a foundational value of a democratic society and the best opportunity for people to lift themselves to prosperity.