Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 14:38:06 -0600 From: Blaine Minazzi <bminazzi@denverweb.net> To: isp@freeBSD.org Subject: Re: News... Message-ID: <33592D2E.62FBEEB8@denverweb.net> References: <m0wIf4f-0008uTC@agora.rdrop.com>
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Alan Batie wrote: > An ISP's job is to be an Internet Service Provider, not to be moral guardian. I' am still interested in knowing exactly how NOT providing every high bandwidth, possibly illegal, content group, costitutes ANY kind of a morality judgement. It think it is a business choice, pure and simple. Which groups are MORE LIKELY to contain illegal porn? comp.os.foo.X alt.sex.teen.binaries. That does not mean that comp.os.foo.X will NEVER have an illegal porn image. But I seriously doubt that I would be held liable ( by a jury ) for a message on that group that was clearly outside of the subject of the group. On the other hand, I cannot see any possible defense against charges that I was making illegal porn available on the other group. I would imagine that a really good lawyer might get me off the hook if some overzealous law enforcement agency wanted to prosecute me, but really good lawyers are VERY expensive. The only judgement that I can see that I would be making is not exposing my ass to every net-cop-censor-law-enforcement-agency. The best way to do that, in my opinion, is not carry certain groups, or host "adult" sites. The side benefit is lower bandwidth requirements. When the government comes after your ass, they tend to have far more resources and manpower at their disposal than any ISP. If they decide to seize your equipment as evidence, you could find yourself screwed. Most of your customers are not going to give a flying fox about how "RIGHT" you are, and how much the government is violating your fourth amendment rights, etc. They want their service, and if you cannot deliver, they will take their money elsewhere. Sure, you MIGHT win, you MIGHT get your equipment back, but in the meantime, you still have bills to pay, and your customer base is GONE. So, If someone chooses to not place themselves at such risk, that has nothing to do with morality. If someone feels that they are untouchable, and that the constitution still hold the government at bay, fine. You are perfectly free to carry any newsgroup, host any kind of site, and maybe they will leave you alone. Good luck. Blaine
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