On 27 Oct 1998, Eric Smith wrote:
> Sam wrote:
> > But I ended up getting a visit from my friendly
> > neighborhood police. It seems some local concerned citizen saw me pulling
> > out all sorts of computer gear from the trash and decided something evil
> > was being perpetrated. Go figure.
>
> What did the police have to say about it?
They were cool enough. By that time I was up in my office getting a few
items out of my desk (it was about 6pm). They came up and knocked on the
door. I just showed them my ID and a business card and they took a
report. A pain in the ass.
> At what point does the contents of the dumpster become publicly available?
> I imagine that this might be a different point than the one at which police
> are aloud to search for evidence, but IANAL.
There's been a court decision that has emphatically stated that once it
goes in the garbage, and the garbage is publicly accessible (ie. you can't
go onto private property) its up for grabs. Local laws may differ, so its
always worth knowing what the laws are in your area before you decide to
go scrounging in the trash.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Tue Oct 27 1998 - 11:09:35 GMT