-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Michael Peponis wrote:
If I remember correctly, are not American Indian reservations considered qusi-sovergin states under the law?
Yes and no. Sometimes states are able to go after then for taxes in terms of money made from non-Indians. NYS complains about people going to reservations to buy cheap cigarettes, for instance, and wants taxes collected from non-Indians. I think the Iran-Contra flap involved using a reservation in Calif. to get around some weapons manufacturing or exporting laws. Not sure, though.
If this is true, what would stop me from negotiating with some tribe to establish an ISP on the reservation and then placing whatever material I wanted on that site without fear of reprisals from the US goverment.
The tribe. They may not be too happy about an ISP on their territory carrying porno, neo-nazi literature or even crypto... Actually, they may look down upon any business deal meant to circumvent US laws, since it can get them into an unpleasant conflict with the gov't. It would be an altogether different situation if they wanted to start their own ISP though... Beware of exploiting poor people on Indian reservations or elsewhere on the planet just to be outside of the laws. Even if it seems for a good cause to you, the locals may not look to favorably.
After all, if they are a soveign state, decency is covered by whatever laws they have, if any, not the CDA.
Their own laws may be stricter. Much stricter. Also, what about the receiver? Or the receiver's ISP? Erotic materials are legal in plenty of countries, but can't the receiver get in trouble? As soon as people see the flawed logic in the Amateur Action BBS case, that's the take they'll go for... and it's back to square one. Rob. - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBMSasCCoZzwIn1bdtAQFwZgGAyPIqr9h4dKNfPFgt/3I3n8qIRvoe4lM7 Lcd6Zsp12hcO9Dbckn202L6O1Qjxy+yi =dY6I -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----