Interesting People mailing list archives
Update on ISP Actions Regarding C-Porn and Usenet
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:35:49 -0700
________________________________________ From: Bob Frankston [Bob19-0501 () bobf frankston com] Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 1:43 AM To: 'Lauren Weinstein'; nnsquad () nnsquad org Cc: David Farber Subject: RE: [ NNSquad ] Update on ISP Actions Regarding C-Porn and Usenet It is important to remember that Usenet is an application level service and Verizon can apply its policies vs others in open marketplace. Whether they will succeed is arguable. I expect the others to follow TWC and drop NNTP support (AKA, Usenet). What is interesting is that if you read the terms of service from Verizon, much of it is (was?) about Usenet etiquette -- many of the concerns date back to the days when it was indeed all about Usenet and there was no Web. You aren't allowed to say bad things about Verizon and others. The term "bar websites" in the NYT article is confusing -- if it simply means they won't host certain content that is far less of a concern than blocking by IP addresses, especially given that Verizon has, so far, declined to act as the copyright police for bits passing then this might sharpen the distinction between application layer services and pure bit transport. Perhaps the next step is to force all controversial (AKA, interesting, not necessarily just prurient) video content to alternate distribution. What happens when the companies have to choose between being in the commodity data transport business with no price floor and the high value content businesses? Stay tuned ... oh, I guess I can't say that since kids don't know about tuners anymore nor why they shouldn't touch the dial. And soon they will wonder what a channel was. -----Original Message----- From: nnsquad-bounces+nnsquad=bobf.frankston.com () nnsquad org [mailto:nnsquad-bounces+nnsquad=bobf.frankston.com () nnsquad org] On Behalf Of Lauren Weinstein Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 20:03 To: nnsquad () nnsquad org Cc: lauren () vortex com Subject: [ NNSquad ] Update on ISP Actions Regarding C-Porn and Usenet Update on ISP Actions Regarding C-Porn and Usenet http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000390.html Greetings. The related ISPs have been working to clarify aspects of the New York Times story that I discussed earlier today ( http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000389.html ). The upshot is interesting. In contrast to the implications of the Times piece, it appears that U.S. ISPs (unlike a newly penned deal in France involving French ISPs) will not for the moment be actively blocking any "class" of Web content, but rather will work to remove c-porn sites from their servers (something most people apparently assumed they'd been doing anyway ... ). So the big to-do from the politicos about this aspect seems to best be filed under grandstanding. But there is a very disturbing additional element to this story. Time Warner Cable says that they are cutting off subscriber access to all Usenet newsgroups (child porn was found in 88 of the vast number of total newsgroups). Sprint is cutting off 10's of 1000's of alt.* newsgroups (and what a war it was back when those were created long, long ago!) Verizon plans "broad" newsgroup cutoffs. While Usenet newsgroups are certainly not the draw that they were many years ago, they still have an important role to play in the free exchange of legal information on the Internet today. Using the presence of illicit materials in some portion of a content stream as an excuse to abolish or decimate the legal content is inexcusable. In fact, that sort of "guilt by association" and "we can get away with this because most people don't know about it" action is the very essence of a particularly insidious form of censorship. Of course, the ISPs could argue that they're under no legal obligation to carry Usenet newsgroups in any form. This is true. But then, most ISPs aren't under a legal mandate to provide connectivity to any given Web sites, either. So one might wonder, given these ISPs' eagerness to hoist much or all of the completely legal content of Usenet on the petard of fettering out c-porn, which aspects of the Internet will be next to fall into the line-of-sight of their big red cutoff switch? --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 http://www.pfir.org/lauren Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- Update on ISP Actions Regarding C-Porn and Usenet David Farber (Jun 11)