Melon traffickers --> Soul traffickers

[Bill Stewart]

At 01:59 PM 09/10/2001 -0400, James B. DiGriz wrote:
>>Common carrier status for ISP's is not automatic, under the '96 Telecom 
>>Act and later additions. You have to file with the FCC and promise to 
>>remove material anybody complains about, etc. in exchange for 
>>indemnification from liablility.
>>I took a look at it and said "Fuck the dumb shit." Choate is right on 
>>this one.
>
>In fact, IIRC, common-carrier status for ISPs as I describe above was 
>actually implemented in the DMCA. Been a while since I looked at it; will 
>have to check. It doesn't appear to have stopped anybody from getting sued 
>for third parties infringing on copyrights, though.


Common-carrier status is a complex deal, including some protection in 
return for lots of regulation.
But it's not the only choice - the ECPA and DMCA and even the 
otherwise-evil Communications Decency Act
provided some protection for network operators under various conditions.
Of course, just because the ECPA or CDA gave you some protections,
that doesn't mean some subsequent law or regulation can't wipe them out;
these aren't Constitutional amendments, they're just laws or regulations
that can be changed whenever some legislator or regulator thinks it's 
convenient
or fails to notice that a new rule is stepping on an old one.