Legal Question in Technology Law in Florida
Is accessing a public file on a webserver illegal?
Web browsers have a unique tool to view the code of a page. In Netscape, one just goes to 'View' in the file menu and click on 'Page Source'. This pulls up Netscape's built-in source viewer. Likewise, in Internet Explorer, one goes to 'View' and clicks on 'Source'. This pulls up the default editor under IE's setting, Notepad.
Now, in this case, I can see the html source. In it is the following within comment tags: U-File=''demoformresult.txt''. Upon copy'n paste method into the location bar of the browser, my screen shows first and last names, email addresses, etc.
The company did not set the file permissions to deny access to the file. Nor did they place the file in a directory and password lock the file.
Their ISP called me and threatened criminal charges. I told them of how I got the information, and they understood that I did no wrong. The ISP even stated that they would back me up in a civil case. But not in a criminal.
But if popular browsers allow you to view the html source of a website, and a file's permissions are set to be publicly viewable, is it still illegal to view such a file?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Is accessing a public file on a webserver illegal?
Yours is a very specific question. That makes it easier to answer. Viewing HTML with a View/Source is not an infringement or an invasion of privacy provided nothing is done illegally to gain access to the page that is being viewed. Nor is cut & paste. The liability for unauthorized disclosure of private information then is with the company for making this available in this way. If I understand you correctly you are just viewing and not redisclosing this information to anyone else. Keep it that way and do not hack through permission denials or passwords.
Re: Is accessing a public file on a webserver illegal?
We're missing some facts here. You outline steps of (1) viewing a Web page, (2) viewing source, (3) block copying and pasting. Query: Pasting into WHAT? because, as we do not yet live in an Orwellian world (no thanks to the efforts of M$), neither the site owner nor the ISP could possibly know that you did any of the above unless you somehow (4) exhibited the results of your block-and-copy from the Web site.
Bruce Burdick is quite correct that copying the text from source is not itself a wrongful act, but you must have done SOMETHING with the copied text, and that is the heart of the issue. If you reply off-list, I'll try to help you understand your situation better.
Best wishes,
LDWG
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