In a lengthy opinion published November 7, 2016, Judge Sontchi of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court provided a thorough analysis of the interaction between the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) and the Bankruptcy Code.  Judge Sontchi’s opinion is available here (the “Opinion”).  The Opinion was issued in the Chapter 15 case In re Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Limited, Case No. 13-12159.  In this case, the Chapter 15 foreign representative of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Limited (the “Debtor”) sought entry of an order directing Yahoo! Inc. (“Yahoo”) to turn over all electronically stored information (“ESI”) in a specific email account belonging to an individual who had evaded the proceeding and failed to comply with discovery orders.

This is one in a series of several opinions which has ruled that the SCA prohibits certain disclosures.  Opinion at *37-38 (“Other courts have come to similar conclusions regarding judicially-manufactured consent over the steadfast objection of an email user. That is, that the SCA does not provide for a mechanism in civil litigation to compel disclosure of a user’s private email contents through a subpoena or a court order directed at the service provider when none of the parties to the communication gave their consent.”)

The SCA allows only a small number of people to consent to the disclosure of the contents of an email account.  And despite no other contact information existing for the owner of this account, as their real identity is unknown, the Court found itself constrained by the limits of the SCA.  This is a particularly offensive situation as the owner of the email account shut it down for the apparent purpose of avoiding service.  As Judge Sontchi stated, “the Foreign Representatives rightly indicate that the only logical conclusion is that Rasimov (or someone on his behalf) terminated it upon receiving the 2004 Motion.”  Opinion at *16 (emphasis added).  To get a full flavor of the efforts the Foreign Representative engaged in to try and obtain this discovery, I recommend you read the 13 pages of history laid out in the Opinion.

This Opinion supports the principle that the will of Congress,  as understood by the courts, will be upheld.  See, e.g., Opinion at *44.  “[T]he Court reaches its conclusion based on clear principles laid down by Congress in the Bankruptcy Code and the SCA.”  Thus, it is my opinion that the most certain way for Congress to ensure they make the laws, rather than having judge made law, is to make it very clear what the intent of the law is as well as any limitations when creating the record of the law’s enactment.  Many may argue that the SCA’s provisions were created in an effort to prevent the government from becoming “Big Brother”, but the unfortunate result of how courts have applied it, is that those who should have their communications uncovered can shelter behind its broad protection.