Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 934 - Security of Communications; Surveillance

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Aggrieved person: means a person who was a party to any intercepted wire, oral, or electronic communication or a person against whom the interception was directed. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Aural transfer: means a transfer containing the human voice at any point between and including the point of origin and the point of reception. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Computer trespasser: means a person who accesses a protected computer without authorization and thus does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to any communication transmitted to, through, or from the protected computer. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Contents: when used with respect to any wire, oral, or electronic communication, includes any information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of that communication. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Electronic communication: means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photooptical system that affects intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce, but does not include:
  (a) Any wire or oral communication;
  (b) Any communication made through a tone-only paging device;
  (c) Any communication from an electronic or mechanical device which permits the tracking of the movement of a person or an object; or
  (d) Electronic funds transfer information stored by a financial institution in a communications system used for the electronic storage and transfer of funds. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Electronic communication service: means any service which provides to users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Electronic communications system: means any wire, radio, electromagnetic, photooptical, or photoelectronic facilities for the transmission of wire or electronic communications, and any computer facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage of such communications. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Electronic storage: means :
  (a) Any temporary intermediate storage of a wire or electronic communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Foreign intelligence information: means information, whether or not concerning a United States person, as that term is defined in Florida Statutes 934.02
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intercept: means the aural or other acquisition of the contents of any wire, electronic, or oral communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Investigative or law enforcement officer: means any officer of the State of Florida or political subdivision thereof, of the United States, or of any other state or political subdivision thereof, who is empowered by law to conduct on behalf of the Government investigations of, or to make arrests for, offenses enumerated in this chapter or similar federal offenses, any attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of such offenses, or any other attorney representing the State of Florida or political subdivision thereof in any civil, regulatory, disciplinary, or forfeiture action relating to, based upon, or derived from such offenses. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Judge of competent jurisdiction: means justice of the Supreme Court, judge of a district court of appeal, circuit judge, or judge of any court of record having felony jurisdiction of the State of Florida, irrespective of the geographic location or jurisdiction where the judge presides. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Law enforcement agency: means an agency of the State of Florida or a political subdivision thereof or of the United States if the primary responsibility of the agency is the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of this state and if its agents and officers are empowered by law to conduct criminal investigations and to make arrests. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• oath: includes affirmations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oral communication: means any oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such expectation and does not mean any public oral communication uttered at a public meeting or any electronic communication. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Pen register: means a device or process that records or decodes dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted, but such information does not include the contents of any communication. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Person: means any employee or agent of the State of Florida or political subdivision thereof, of the United States, or of any other state or political subdivision thereof, and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Protected computer: means :
  (a) A computer for the exclusive use of a financial institution or governmental entity;
  (b) A computer that is not for the exclusive use of a financial institution or governmental entity, but that is used by or for a financial institution or governmental entity and with respect to which unlawful conduct can affect the use by or for the financial institution or governmental entity; or
  (c) A computer that is used in interstate or foreign commerce or communication, including a computer located outside the United States. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Readily accessible to the general public: means , with respect to a radio communication, that such communication is not:
  (a) Scrambled or encrypted;
  (b) Transmitted using modulation techniques whose essential parameters have been withheld from the public with the intention of preserving the privacy of such communication;
  (c) Carried on a subcarrier or other signal subsidiary to a radio transmission;
  (d) Transmitted over a communications system provided by a common carrier, unless the communication is a tone-only paging system communication; or
  (e) Transmitted on frequencies allocated under part 25; subpart D, subpart E, or subpart F of part 74; or part 94 of the Rules of the Federal Communications Commission, unless, in the case of a communication transmitted on a frequency allocated under part 74 that is not exclusively allocated to broadcast auxiliary services, the communication is a two-way voice communication by radio. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remote computing service: means the provision to the public of computer storage or processing services by means of an electronic communications system. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• State: means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other possession or territory of the United States. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena: means any administrative subpoena authorized by federal or Florida law, federal or Florida grand jury subpoena, or any criminal investigative subpoena as authorized by Florida statute which may be utilized on behalf of the government by an investigative or law enforcement officer. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trap and trace device: means a device or process that captures the incoming electronic or other impulses that identify the originating number or other dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information reasonably likely to identify the source of a wire or electronic communication, but such information does not include the contents of any communication. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• User: means any person or entity who:
  (a) Uses an electronic communication service, and
  (b) Is duly authorized by the provider of such service to engage in such use. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. ^{Source: OCC}
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Wire communication: means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception including the use of such connection in a switching station furnished or operated by any person engaged in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of intrastate, interstate, or foreign communications or communications affecting intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce. See Florida Statutes 934.02
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01