Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

Close Question.

It is lawful ... for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication, where the person is a party to the communication or where one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to the interception, unless the communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing any criminal or tortious act in violation of the constitution or laws of the state of Tennessee.

It is unlawful to intercept any wire, oral, or electronic communication for the purpose of committing a criminal act.

It is lawful, unless otherwise prohibited by state or federal law, for any person:

(A) To intercept or access an electronic communication made through an electronic communication system that is configured so that the electronic communication is readily accessible to the general public;

So:

1 - If you were specifically invited, all is well.

2 - If someone who was invited allowed you to listen in, all is well.

3 - If the invitation for the conference call was readily available to -- in this case -- a "general public" that

consisted of a message transmitted to all employees, you are probably safe.

Otherwise, dialing in to a conference call simply because you have the phone number and access code,

even if that phone number and access code were disclosed (but without an invitation, that is, not addressed to you)

is an "intercept" in violation of privacy.

See T.C.A. �39-16-601 in the Tennessee code. As usual, consulting an attorney is in order. The crime is a Class D Felony.

And remember, even if it is not a criminal offense subject to prosecution by the District Attorney, it can be a valid reason

for discipline/termination by the employer.