Is it legal to impersonate somebody and tape the phone call?

[Duer 157099]

It just seems like that guy might be getting into trouble, yes?

:shrug:

[DonCoquixote]

1. If he does

There should be a legal defense fund. Hell, the right had no problems taping Monica L. to get Bill impeached.

[Brickbat]

2. OMG, trouble?

GOSH, maybe he should have thought of that.

[Duer 157099]

4. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that he did it

just wondering about the consequences, that's all.

[bbinacan]

3. Not sure but you

raise a good point.

[drokhole]

5. If so, I'd hate to be the Jerky Boys.

[cbdo2007]

18. Satire always gets a free pass.

It's a different story if you impersonate someone maliciously and use it against them somehow.

[Lint Head]

6. The FBI and police departments across the country pose as drug dealers

and prostitutes all the time to catch criminals.

[Duer 157099]

9. I know, but we all know about the double standards there

they can do whatever-the-fuck-they-want while the rest of us have a different set of rules.

[seabeyond]

7. find out state law. some areas, only one need know there is a recording

some states both need to know.

[socialist_n_TN]

20. Yep. That's what I've been told............

Depends on the state.

[Mojeoux]

8. So did the Accorn Attack fake pimp, secret tape guy get into trouble?

This is New Century Politics.

[Duer 157099]

11. I think the taping of phone calls is different

Clearly I don't know which is why I'm questioning.

[Blue-Jay]

10. Depends on the state laws. In WI, it's OK to tape a phone call.

There's no law of which I'm aware that states you need to give your actual real name. Just ask a telemarketer, bill collector, or help-desk representative.

[Duer 157099]

12. Well what made me think of it was the new legislation

(proposed? passed?) that prohibits inpersonation on the Internet.

[Blue-Jay]

14. Does that have to do with screwing people out of money?

Because there are already laws against that.

[Duer 157099]

21. I think it was in response to the woman who harassed that girl

and the girl killed herself. The woman was the mother of a peer of the girl and went online and pretended she was a teenager and wrote horrible things etc and the girl eventually killed herself and the woman got into legal trouble.

I think this was in response to that sort of thing.

[Blue-Jay]

27. Without looking it up, I'd say that the "intent" has a good deal to do with it.

A prank phone call is not even similar to internet harassment by any definition.

[SmileyRose]

31. Wait

you mean that customer service guy who barely speaks American at Wells Fargo's customer service line isn't really named Henry?

I'm stunned. Just stunned.

[Blue-Jay]

33. "speaks American".

:rofl:

[csziggy]

38. No, his real name is Peggy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8L2cI8brzQ

[WillowTree]

13. Why would it not be legal?

[pnwmom]

17. In many states you can't record a telephone conversation without

the consent of all parties.

[uppityperson]

23. In some you need the consent of only 1. Need to check your state laws. Look in phone book

sometimes they give info in the front like that.

[66 dmhlt]

34. CONSENT: 12 states require ALL parties; 38 states require ONE

All Parties Consent:
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Washington

Only ONE Party Needs to Consent:
So clearly WISCONSIN is on THIS list

http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.tel.tape.law.html

[baldguy]

15. In NY, only one party to a conversation needs to consent to have it recorded.

Assuming the Buffalo Beast was in Buffalo, he committed no crime.

[Sonoman]

25. Bingo! Texas is the same.

I nailed an asshole - who had knocked off one of my inventions - with a recording of one of our conversations.

He denied that the conversation (in which he told me he was going to knock me off and try to put me out of business) ever took place. His attorneys knew nothing of Texas Law regarding phone conversations.

We fucking nailed them.

He then feigned 'memory loss'.

We then played more of the recording in which he repeated the statement four times.

That's when the Judge nailed his ass for perjury.

Sonoman

[AlabamaLibrul]

16. It's social engineering, not illegal, could cause a long, complex, likely useless lawsuit n/t

[cbdo2007]

22. From what I'm reading about "social engineering"

this case doesn't quite fit the descriptions, because the guy in this case actually impersonated another real person by assuming his identity to gain access to the information.

"social engineering" on the other hand allows you to impersonate actions and interests of a generic person (typically yourself) to gain access to priveleged information.

I wouldn't say it's black and white in this case, as the Koch guy that was impersonated could claim damages for someone stealing his identity specifically.

[AlabamaLibrul]

28. That's why I left a bit of room open for a lawsuit. It gets messy, and here's why:

It's not illegal to use an assumed name to call someone. It's not even illegal to use an assumed name that already exists (I did the shittiest job ever, a bill collector during college and used a very common fake name so nobody could come find me and burn my apartment down)

Some random dude named Dave Coke, or any other spelling, could be calling the governor on his own volition. The blogger should have, quite honestly, stayed down low and kept his fucking mouth shut while everyone else scrambled to confirm the call with the Governor. Now everybody knows he was impersonating David Koch, the billionaire, and could be sued for defamation of character or anything else the Koch legal department comes up with.

[devilgrrl]

19. I've never heard that it's illegal

eom

[DeeDeeNY]

24. Remember when Palin took the phony call from Sarkozy?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3578413

:rofl:

[Mojeoux]

29. Good Call! Did the fake Sarkozy get into trouble? nt

[Kurovski]

26. Oh, you mean in the land of NSA wiretapping.

I assume every conversation i have on a phone is recorded. Why not?

[blogslut]

30. Mr. Murphy welcomes the trouble

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/23/ian_murphy_scott_walker_prank/

Murphy said he has not heard from Walker's office or, for that matter Koch's. He says he hopes Koch sues the Beast, citing the Streisand effect. He adds: "I would just like it on the record that I'm not suicidal. If my body floats up in some Wisconsin bog or cheese factory, I was not suicidal."

[Arkana]

32. Who gives a damn?

In terms of introducing evidence into legal proceedings, yeah, maybe.

But Scott Walker said what he said. The tape is out there.

And as far as I know, Wisconsin is a "one-person consent" state--meaning only one person in the conversation has to consent to the taping of it.

[speltwon]

35. Depends on the state. This law, like most criminal law - varies. In my state

it is illegal. In many states, it is not. The impersonation thing is not a problem, the taping is. My state prohibits the taping of a "private conversation" w.o all party involved consent. Many states only require one party consent, iow the person recording.

[provis99]

36. he didn't claim he was billionaire David Koch.

He just said he was David Koch, and the idiot Walker assumed it was the billionaire. So they can't get him on impersonating somebody.

[cbdo2007]

41. That's like calling....

Keith Richards and saying your "David Bowie" and have him divulge all sorts of stuff to you, then just go back and say you weren't implying you were THAT "David Bowie", you just made it all up.

You're really stretching here to claim it was just a coincidence that he used the name "David Koch". I'm all for exposing the Gov for all his wrongdoings but I think the reporter is going to get in some trouble over this for impersonation Koch.

[lonestarnot]

37. Not in AZ it's not.

And the impersonated, he hasn't appeared to have suffered any damages yet. :shrug:

[backscatter712]

39. In most states, recording a phone call is legal as long as one party consents.

"David Koch" consented to recording his own phone call, so it's legal.

Let me check Wisconsin law... Yep, it's a one-party-consent state.

[mrmpa]

40. some quick research I did found that New York and Kansas

law say that only one person has to give consent to have a conversation taped, so I think the caller is safe on that issue. I don't think it's against the law to impersonate someone, unless it's for financial gain, such as a scam, or identity theft. So I think the caller is safe there. The governor got punked, nothing illegal about that.