FIDONet Mail filtering - a course of action
FIDONet mail filtering came up many months ago. It is indeed an atrocious policy. Are these people in the same cyberspace we are? This is like hearing neanderthals inhabit many houses in the neighborhood. As for what *we* can do, well, if premier cyberspatial laywer Mike Godwin considers himself a hardcore cypherpunk, I'd expect that a letter on EFF stationary would have a pretty significant effect. It wouldn't have to be hostile or intimidating, just something along the tone of `please join the cyberspatial community and your concerned peers.' It could mention the strict legal significance of the ECPA -- that a strong case can be made that *any* filtering is in violation of it, and that one cannot screen encrypted mail without breaking it. In fact, ideally the letter would be general enough to give to anyone who is engaged in unwholesome activities along the same lines. If this is all too much work, I think just quoting his cypherpunk-list letters that suggest the ECPA does not exactly condone their behavior might have an effect too... Hee, hee, though I'd say the actual letter would be worth a coveted L.D. Cypherpunk of the Week award <g> I'm just waiting for an excuse to give M.G. one. I don't think everyone realizes how lucky we are to have him and Gilmore in the same room with us!
According to L. Detweiler:
As for what *we* can do, well, if premier cyberspatial laywer Mike Godwin considers himself a hardcore cypherpunk, I'd expect that a letter on EFF stationary would have a pretty significant effect. It wouldn't have to be hostile or intimidating, just something along the tone of `please join the cyberspatial community and your concerned peers.' It could mention the strict legal significance of the ECPA -- that a strong case can be made that *any* filtering is in violation of it, and that one cannot screen encrypted mail without breaking it. In fact, ideally the letter would be general enough to give to anyone who is engaged in unwholesome activities along the same lines.
Well, I have no ethical problems with giving out the guy's name...
Hee, hee, though I'd say the actual letter would be worth a coveted L.D. Cypherpunk of the Week award <g> I'm just waiting for an excuse to give M.G. one. I don't think everyone realizes how lucky we are to have him and Gilmore in the same room with us!
We are indeed lucky people. There are a lot of "quality people" on this list. I am very gratefull to all of you. J. Michael Diehl ;^) |*The 2nd Amendment is there in case the mdiehl@triton.unm.edu | Government forgets about the 1st! <RL> Mike.Diehl@f29.n301.z1 |*God is a good Physicist, and an even .fidonet.org | better Mathematician. <Me> al945@cwns9.ins.cwru.edu|*I'm just looking for the opportunity to (505) 299-2282 (voice) | be Politically Incorrect! <Me> Can we impeach him yet? |*Protected by 18 USC 2511 and 18 USC 2703. PGP Key = 7C06F1 = A6 27 E1 1D 5F B2 F2 F1 12 E7 53 2D 85 A2 10 5D
Lance writes:
As for what *we* can do, well, if premier cyberspatial laywer Mike Godwin considers himself a hardcore cypherpunk, I'd expect that a letter on EFF stationary would have a pretty significant effect.
This is a possibility, but perhaps we could do something subtler. I suggest that someone forward my cypherpunk-list letters to this sysop along with my phone number (202-347-5400) and let the guy know that he can call me to discuss the possible legal liability he is creating for himself. Outside of the issue of passing encrypted information, it seems common among Fido sysops to screen for other kinds of content. That can be way uncool, legally. --Mike
Mike Godwin writes:
Outside of the issue of passing encrypted information, it seems common among Fido sysops to screen for other kinds of content. That can be way uncool, legally.
So how do I prevent what happened to SJG, killer, etc from happening to me? How do I prevent the LE types from showing up one day and saying 'hey, did you know there's a meg of kiddie porn on your machine and we're taking it all away'? Do I have pull my machine off the net and go back to pre-bangnet times?
J. Eric writes:
So how do I prevent what happened to SJG, killer, etc from happening to me?
What gives you the impression that there is *anything* you can do to prevent it? The BBS seized in the SJG case did not have illegal material on it.
How do I prevent the LE types from showing up one day and saying 'hey, did you know there's a meg of kiddie porn on your machine and we're taking it all away'?
You can't prevent it. You can minimize the risk of it by destroying any kiddie porn you find uploaded to your system. Unless the kiddie porn has been included as part of an electronic communication, it's just a file, and not covered by ECPA. Nothing in ECPA prevents you from looking at any GIFs uploaded to your system, but ECPA does prevent your interception or disclosure of electronic messages that pass through your system if you're not the intended recipient.
Do I have pull my machine off the net and go back to pre-bangnet times?
Pulling your system off the net does not eliminate the possibility that it will be seized. Nothing does. --Mike
participants (4)
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J. Michael Diehl -
jet＠netcom.com -
L. Detweiler -
Mike Godwin