In this case, the web owner was fully aware of what was posted on his site.
The feds grabbed Jim McDermott for passing on taped phone calls of Newt Gingrich. It’s pretty much the same thing. The site owner was fully aware of what was going on. O’Reilly says that anyone who down loaded the private information can also be liable.
Actually, it's not.
If the website had been set up specifically to post the data, then yes.
But a general purpose board where anyone can post anything? Unlikely that the owner is liable.
O’Reilly says that anyone who down loaded the private information can also be liable.
O'Reilly is full of it.
On the Internet "looking at something" and "downloading something" are the same thing. Your computer downloads this webpage and then displays it.
There is no chance that people that showed up and looked at the data can be held liable.