## Facts

- Steve Jackson Games, Inc. (SJG) operated an electronic bulletin board system (BBS) that supported public postings and private electronic mail stored on the BBS computer until retrieved by recipients.
- As part of a Bell-related computer-security investigation, the United States Secret Service (USSS) obtained a search warrant connected to alleged unauthorized distribution of a Bell emergency 911 file.
- On March 1, 1990, USSS agents executed a search at SJG’s offices and seized the BBS computer, other computers, and numerous floppy disks, including materials related to SJG’s publications.
- The seized BBS computer contained private, unread email belonging to SJG employees and users.
- While the equipment was in government custody, agents accessed the stored email; the district court found that agents read and deleted some private, unread messages.
- In the district court, SJG obtained relief under statutes governing unlawful access to stored communications, but the court rejected the claim that the conduct was an “intercept” under the Wiretap Act.
- SJG appealed only the adverse ruling on the Wiretap Act “intercept” issue; the government did not challenge the stored-communications liability findings or remedies.

## Issues

1. Whether the government’s seizure of a BBS computer and later access to private, unread email stored on that system constitutes an “intercept” of electronic communications under Title I of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (the Wiretap Act).

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that the challenged conduct was not an “intercept” under the Wiretap Act.
- The court held that “intercept” under Title I requires acquisition contemporaneous with transmission, and reading email already in storage does not satisfy that requirement.
- The court emphasized the statutory structure distinguishing Title I (interception during transmission) from Title II (unauthorized access to stored communications).
- The judgment left undisturbed the district court’s findings and remedies under the stored-communications provisions.

## Legal Principles

- An “intercept” under the Wiretap Act requires acquisition of an electronic communication contemporaneous with its transmission, not after the communication has been delivered and stored.
- Conduct involving access to electronic communications in storage is governed primarily by the Stored Communications Act framework rather than the Wiretap Act.
- Statutory interpretation should preserve the functional separation between Title I (real-time interception) and Title II (access to stored communications), avoiding readings that make Title II superfluous.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit held that accessing private, unread email after it had been stored on a seized BBS computer was not a Wiretap Act “intercept” because it was not contemporaneous with transmission, affirming the rejection of Title I liability while leaving intact stored-communications remedies.


Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. U.S. Secret Serv., 36 F.3d 457 (5th Cir. 1994)