I got an email message from someone who works for the
Australian Defence Organization
. It has this at the bottom.
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Australian Defence Organisation and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the CRIMES ACT 1914.
What does it mean for an email message which was sent unsolicited to me and deposited into my email account and which I then downloaded to my computer to remain the property of the Australian Defence Organisation? In what sense is it their property? This isn't a copyright notice. Are they claiming they now own some bits in my computer? What really is this supposed to mean? Might I be violating section 70 of the CRIMES ACT 1914 by copying this extract from the email message and publishing it on my blog? What do they think they are doing?
1 comment:
I consulted with an Australian Shepherd friend, who quoted the pertinent act from memory:
70 Disclosure of information by Commonwealth officers
(1) A person who, being a Commonwealth officer, publishes or communicates, except to some person to whom he is authorized to publish or communicate it, any fact or document which comes to his knowledge, or into his possession, by virtue of being a Commonwealth officer, and which it is his duty not to disclose, shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) A person who, having been a Commonwealth officer, publishes or communicates, without lawful authority or excuse (proof whereof shall lie upon him), any fact or document which came to his knowledge, or into his possession, by virtue of having been a Commonwealth officer, and which, at the time when he ceased to be a Commonwealth officer, it was his duty not to disclose, shall be guilty of an offence.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 2 years.
Anyway, it seems that the act only applies to Commonwealth officers, so if there was anything in that e-mail which shouldn't be on your blog, the only person who will get in trouble is whoever sent it to you. Blog away!
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