If the court accepts Google’s argument that Wi-Fi signals are "radio communications" exempt from the federal Wiretap Act, "that loophole is big enough for massive government intrusion," Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein’s Elizabeth Cabraser argued.

It wasn’t clear if the court was moved by Cabraser’s dire warnings. Judge Jay Bybee had only limited questions for each side, while the two other members of the panel remained virtually silent during the half-hour argument in Joffe v. Google.