At 10:35 PM 3/7/96, owner-cypherpunks@toad.com wrote:
I wonder whether they've actually considered the liability situation in re: blocking sites that shouldn't be blocked? I mean, sure, they seem nice enough about setting things right (like with the Nynex sites whose url's had "xxx" in the paths), but it seems to this non-lawyer that a case could be made for damages inflicted by being known as a purveyor of filthy indecency for even a short while.
We need to be very careful here. A service like "SurfWatch," voluntarily used by others, has entered into no contracts with sites to meet defined standards of what should and shouldn't be blocked. It is essentially a "review" service, like a reviewer of books, movies, restaurants, etc. Sure, some books, movies, and restaurants are "hurt" by negative reviews, but this is life in a free society. It has not yet reached the point in these Beknighted States that a bad review can be the basis of a tort (though I could be wrong...nothing would surprise me these days). Let me use myself as an example. "TimWatch" offers to inform people of sites he thinks are not desirable for them to visit. I freely admit that my criteria are imperfect, and people can choose to follow my advice or not follow my advice. I may even sell a software package ("TimWatch") to let users screen sites at their own machines. Now, do we as Cypherpunks really think TimWatch or SurfWatch should be liable for "damages" because someone got their feelings hurt? Absent a contract, spelling out the performance expected, of course not. If SurfWatch can be sued for a "bad review," then Siskel and Ebert had better find a new line of work. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."