On Monday, September 17, 2001, at 09:50 AM, Greg Broiles wrote:
At 07:23 AM 9/17/2001 +0000, Ryan Lackey wrote:
The only viable long-term solution I see for most of these things is charging per-transaction for messages. Remailers are exactly the kind of application where "postage" could first be applied. The problems seem twofold:
1) Remailer operators are exposed to new and additional legal threat if they accept payment for service (right?)
"New and additional" might be too strong, but one of the elements of contributory or vicarious copyright infringement is whether or not the defendant profited from the direct infringement - and changing remailing from an unpaid public service to an (apparently) for-profit business pretty much concedes that point to the plaintiff.
I'm not a lawyer, but why not look at "package delivery services" for some examples: -- Federal Express, UPS, Airborne Express, Emory International, DHL, etc. -- none of them are held liable for the contents of what they ship, whether illegal copies of software, pornography, etc. -- they may be required to cooperate in drug smuggling investigations, for example, but this is quite different from either requiring them to know the contents of what they ship or holding them liable for illegal materials shipped. (Maybe they applied for and got "common carrier" status. I don't know. But I also know that they are not "required to accept business from anyone," as some have claimed is one of the sine qua nons of C.C. status.) We can imagine a version of the remailer network that operates with FedEx overnight letters, with a diskette or CD-R in each envelope, from each "repackager" to the next. Would FedEx be liable for the contents? If not them, why would a person receiving a FedEx package and then processing the unreadable-to-him (encrypted) files? On a related note, has FedEx ever been faced criminal or civil charges for transporting material? (This is of special relevance because it seems the recent terrorists used FedEx overnight letters to communicate.) The requirement placed on Mailboxes, Etc. that some proof of a "true name" being offered would NOT affect this "FedEx remailer" system. (Because, of course, the act of mixing is happening _after_ messages are received and _before_ they are mailed again.) --Tim May