2.
Section 2511(2)(d)
According to the defendants, even if we find that the
plaintiffs adequately plead the acquisition of “content,” we
may affirm nevertheless under § 2511(2)(d). Section
2511(2)(d) sets forth that “[i]t shall not be unlawful . . . for a
person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral,
or electronic communication where such person is a party to
the communication . . . unless such communication is
intercepted for the purpose of committing any criminal or
tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the
United States or of any State.” The defendants contend that
they were the intended recipients of—and thus “parties” to—
any electronic transmissions that they acquired and tracked,
and that, as they committed no secondary criminal or tortious
act, their conduct cannot have been unlawful under the
statute.
a.
How the Information at Issue
Was Acquired
Before we can assess whether the defendants were
“parties” to the electronic transmissions at issue, we must first
identify what, exactly, are the transmissions at issue.
In the portion of the complaint devoted to the
plaintiffs’ Wiretap Act claim, the complaint states that “the
[d]efendants’ third-party web tracking permitted them to
information that’s being sent at that time.”). This is consistent
with our understanding of the allegations of the plaintiffs, as
discussed in detail below.
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