Pranksters record Bills GM and Bucs GM discussing FA and Draft

No idea how legal, but pretty nuts that it even worked.

Hilarious!

So much for the "Bills will Draft Barkley" stuff.

I like T Jackson but think he is just a good Qb who is to inconsistent to really do much.

The flipside is it is surprising the Bucs are not higher on Josh Freeman.

I get this happening to the Bills. They are, after all, the Bills. But Domenik has a reputation for being pretty savvy.

I'm sure that these type of off-the-record conversations happen all the time. The problem is that this particular conversation is now on-the record. I can't imagine how some of the players feel - though I would imagine the Fitzpatrick situation could easily result in both parties agreeing to walk away. No matter how you look at it though, it's a PR nightmare for both teams.

Jeff Ireland has certainly had his share of private questions being made public. It's nice to see that he's not necessarily the bumbling buffoon he's often made out to be.

"Vengeful Odin wrote:

I get this happening to the Bills. They are, after all, the Bills. But Domenik has a reputation for being pretty savvy.

I'm sure that these type of off-the-record conversations happen all the time. The problem is that this particular conversation is now on-the record. I can't imagine how some of the players feel - though I would imagine the Fitzpatrick situation could easily result in both parties agreeing to walk away. No matter how you look at it though, it's a PR nightmare for both teams.

Jeff Ireland has certainly had his share of private questions being made public. It's nice to see that he's not necessarily the bumbling buffoon he's often made out to be.

Dominik had no reason to be suspicious. As far as he knew his secretary was just patching in a call from the Bills GM. Buddy Nix, if he weren't ancient, probably should have realized something was going on, but with the amazing timing of the whole thing, it's hard to blame him that much either.

It's extremely interesting to hear two real NFL GMs talking shop. Especially about QBs. Fitzpatrick's confidence must be through the roof right now. "He's probably fighting for a backup job."

Recording calls without consent of all parties is indeed illegal. And this wouldn't be the first time Gawker went to the opposite side of the law for the sake of a story--remember when Gizmodo bought stolen property?

"Vengeful Odin wrote:

Jeff Ireland has certainly had his share of private questions being made public. It's nice to see that he's not necessarily the bumbling buffoon he's often made out to be.

First, what does this have to do with Jeff Ireland?

Second, Ireland isn't made out to be a buffoon; he's made out to be a jerk.

^ assclown, he is an assclown

"Stitches wrote:

No idea how legal, but pretty nuts that it even worked.

In Texas it is legal, as in the Roger Clemens trial. New York state I believe it is against the law. Although I am not sure. Those are two states that I know of off the top of my head.

"Desides wrote:

Recording calls without consent of all parties is indeed illegal. And this wouldn't be the first time Gawker went to the opposite side of the law for the sake of a story--remember when Gizmodo bought stolen property?

First, what does this have to do with Jeff Ireland?

Second, Ireland isn't made out to be a buffoon; he's made out to be a jerk.

It varies from state to state as far I know.

It's my understand that as a general rule if they were on wireless phones, it's legal to grab that signal out of the air.

"Conuficus wrote:

It varies from state to state as far I know.

This is true. But Florida law (which Domenik would make relevant since he works in Tampa) states that all parties must be notified that the call is being recorded. New York (Buffalo) and federal law say that only one party on the call must consent; however, that's a bit of a gray area, since the prank callers would obviously claim they consented to the recording, but a prosecutor would argue that they didn't actually take part in the call, that the other parties didn't know they were there.

It's illegal just because of the Florida law involvement.

"Laces Out wrote:

It's my understand that as a general rule if they were on wireless phones, it's legal to grab that signal out of the air.

There is no way to grab a signal out of the air when the parties are using different cell towers. By the way, these calls were made from landlines, because Nix was calling from his office and the pranksters put him through to Domenik in his office.

"padre31 wrote:

So much for the "Bills will Draft Barkley" stuff.

I like T Jackson but think he is just a good Qb who is to inconsistent to really do much.

The flipside is it is surprising the Bucs are not higher on Josh Freeman.

Not so fast. Nix does say "we've gotta get one..." but adds it's a bad year to have to do it.

My sense is, he knows he has to bite the bullet and overdraft a so-so QB. What he OUGHT to do is trade for one (should have nabbed Alex Smith, but then, Is Smith that much better than how Barkely will be in a year or two at much less money?)

"Laces Out wrote:

It's my understand that as a general rule if they were on wireless phones, it's legal to grab that signal out of the air.

Which these guys did not. They manually called the parties, and put them on speakerphone, apparently. Or something like that.

"Desides wrote:

This is true. But Florida law (which Domenik would make relevant since he works in Tampa) states that all parties must be notified that the call is being recorded. New York (Buffalo) and federal law say that only one party on the call must consent; however, that's a bit of a gray area, since the prank callers would obviously claim they consented to the recording, but a prosecutor would argue that they didn't actually take part in the call, that the other parties didn't know they were there.

It's illegal just because of the Florida law involvement.

There is no way to grab a signal out of the air when the parties are using different cell towers. By the way, these calls were made from landlines, because Nix was calling from his office and the pranksters put him through to Domenik in his office.

Wireless doesn't always mean cellular phone. It just means the signal is OTA, like a cordless phone. Also, it isn't impossible to snag someone's cell signal, all one needs is an ESN and the software to program a cell phone without service, and you're in business.

"Laces Out wrote:

Wireless doesn't always mean cellular phone. It just means the signal is OTA, like a cordless phone. Also, it isn't impossible to snag someone's cell signal, all one needs is an ESN and the software to program a cell phone without service, and you're in business.

You're not grasping the geography here.

"Vengeful Odin wrote:

I get this happening to the Bills. They are, after all, the Bills. But Domenik has a reputation for being pretty savvy.

I'm sure that these type of off-the-record conversations happen all the time. The problem is that this particular conversation is now on-the record. I can't imagine how some of the players feel - though I would imagine the Fitzpatrick situation could easily result in both parties agreeing to walk away. No matter how you look at it though, it's a PR nightmare for both teams.

Jeff Ireland has certainly had his share of private questions being made public. It's nice to see that he's not necessarily the bumbling buffoon he's often made out to be.

Nix is the only one that should have been suspicious, given that the first call which supposedly was from Dominik was a hangup and then he called that number back several times with no answer. At that point most people would assume that it was a prank, or that somehow the caller ID got the # wrong. Either way, all he had to do is tell his secretary "Hey, get me MArk Domenik on the phone" and the recording never would've hapened

"Bpk wrote:

Not so fast. Nix does say "we've gotta get one..." but adds it's a bad year to have to do it.

My sense is, he knows he has to bite the bullet and overdraft a so-so QB. What he OUGHT to do is trade for one (should have nabbed Alex Smith, but then, Is Smith that much better than how Barkely will be in a year or two at much less money?)

More key is Fitz's contract as well, they are very much in the Jets situation, hip deep in a Qb that the people in the building no longer really buy into

John McClain @McClain_on_NFL

I'm hearing Dolphins and Eagles are among the teams interested in Texans FB/TE James Casey. Texans hope to keep him.

And there you go, Nix sounds like he is cyaing on that, now Barkley makes some sense for them

"byroan wrote:

I'm not sure how legal it is to record a phone call without them knowing it.

I think the answer's "not very"...they're been charged with breaking federal laws by:

intentionally intercepting a wire communication and making a telephone call without disclosing their identity with the intent to annoy or harass the person at the called number

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/22322000/prank-call-of-bills-and-buccaneers-gms-leads-to-federal-charges

"Claymore95 wrote:

I think the answer's "not very"...they're been charged with breaking federal laws by:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/22322000/prank-call-of-bills-and-buccaneers-gms-leads-to-federal-charges

Sooooo. Anyone still think that this wasn't a big deal?

Just to play devil's advocate, why is the government allowed to tap phones without warrants and these guys will be thrown the book? The US is full of double standards;

The FISA Amendments Act continues to be controversial; key portions of it were challenged in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court this term. In brief, the law allows the government to get secret FISA court orders-orders that do not require probable cause like regular warrants-for any emails or phone calls going to and from overseas. The communications only have to deal with "foreign intelligence information," a broad term that can mean virtually anything. And one secret FISA order can be issued against groups or categories of people-potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of Americans at once.

http://gizmodo.com/5971743/senate-approves-warrantless-phone-tapping-law

Whether this passed or not, I don't know. I don't care, but the government is doing it regardless. We are naive if we think otherwise.

Just giving some perspective.

I think legality will depend on the state. Other factors that come to mind are "reasonable assumption to privacy" and ownership of the line. For example, if you call me on my phone and I just so happen to record all of my calls, depending on state law, that may not necessarily be illegal because I am the owner of the line. Same thing comes into play with video. For example. In Maryland, if you have an alarm system that records someone you have to have a sign that says, "This property subject to video monitoring" or the video might be inadmissible. Other states have different laws. It's not as simple as recording phone calls is illegal. Bill Collectors and Businesses give you the notification to let you know that you don't have a "reasonable assumption to your privacy."