At 12:09 PM 12/6/00 -0500, Declan McCullagh wrote:
* Common carriers are regulated closely by the FCC and states. (Think: Approval required before raising prices.) ou don't want to be one.
Yes, this was brought up recently when I mentioned common carrier protections for financial service providers, like the Texans. It should be possible to separate the non-responsibility-for-content from the *eminent-domain-derived* regulation of the copper-wire-plant monopoly. For instance, a contract printer is not (or should not be) held responsible for the content he prints, though his rates aren't regulated, because he doesn't use the "commons". You *do* want legal recognition of immunity for what clients use your service for, like a common carrier but without the FCC or PUC. Thanks for pointing out that "common carrier" is a tainted/burdened legal term. (I think they are separable functions: the telcos could still be held legally responsible for what you say even if their rates were unregulated.)