Got.net and its narcing out of its customers

Tim May timcmay at got.net
Mon Dec 8 13:17:22 PST 2003


On Dec 8, 2003, at 1:15 PM, Declan McCullagh wrote:

> On Sat, Dec 06, 2003 at 01:59:26PM -0800, Tim May wrote:
>> This actually fits in with something Lessig is widely known for, his
>> "technology-custom-law" trichotomy (*).
>>
>> (* He may call it something different...I haven't checked in a while.
>
> I was reading some of David Friedman's articles over the weekend and
> noticed that he also used the same trichotomy, predating Lessig.
>
>> "I'm sorry that Tim is being a bother again. He has a long history of
>> being obnoxious and threatening. So far, he has not broken any laws.  
>> We
>> have talked to the authorities about him on numerous occasions. They
>> have chosen to watch but not act.  Please feel free to notify me if he
>> does anything that is beyond rude and actually violates any laws and I
>> will immediately inform the authorities."
>>
>> Thank You
>> Don Frederickson  (co-owner and CEO of got.net, Santa Cruz)
>
> When did Don Fredderickson write this?
>
> -Declan
>


You can Google Groups for any of the unique text to find it, and the  
context.

Or, here's the thread (search on my name for the exact spot, or go to  
August 22nd):

<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF 
-8&safe=off&threadm=220820032357238678%25timcmay%40removethis.got.net&rn 
um=1&prev=/ 
groups%3Fq%3Dfrederickson%2Bgot%2Btim%26hl%3Den%26lr%3Dlang_en%26ie%3DUT 
F-8%26oe%3DUTF 
-8%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3D220820032357238678%2525timcmay%2540removethis.g 
ot.net%26rnum%3D1>

Searching GG on "don frederickson got tim" is maybe more reliable than  
pasting this URL.

(If you are asking did Don write this on or about the 22nd?, I assume  
so, of course, as this is when this "Kal" nym was foaming and  
threatening to get my account yanked and have the cops raid my house.)

It happened in one of the "movies" groups (rec.arts.current-movies),  
when the thread was on DVD copy protection and the (claimed) illegality  
of making DVDs of movies.

I explained how I was cheerfully making an average of a DVD a day of my  
favorite current movies.

A couple of "nyms" went ballistic and foamed that they had forwarded my  
"admissions" to the RIAA and how I would face civil penalties and jail  
time, oh my!

Then one of them claimed he had arranged to have my account yanked, for  
"violation of the DMCA." He claimed he had sent copies of my "criminal"  
admissions to Got.net, to the RIAA, to "law enforcement" (shudder!),  
and so on.

The owner of Got.net replied to him and the above got posted (not by  
me).

I consider Don Frederickson despicable, and stupid. To not bother  
before understanding the context of the thread and say, basically,  
"Yes, we have narced out this customer to law enforcement, but they are  
just watching" is reprehensible.

The earlier owners/operators of Got.net took the stance that what  
people said on Usenet or on mailing lists was of no interest to them,  
save for a few carefully-spelled-out TOS issues (like spam).

The new owner apparently thinks it's his job to narc out his customers  
to law enforcement and then to tell others who are not even his  
customers that he has done so. Were I the litigious sort, I might  
contemplate suing.

(I haven't quit Got.net yet mainly because I am evaluating options for  
broadband in my rural location. Currently, DSL is about half a mile  
away, so may arrive soon--when it does I expect I will get it.  
Cablemodem is available to the top of my hill, but not down my long  
driveway, and the cable company will not allow me to either string my  
own lines or mount a WiFi or IR or similar atop the telephone pole. (My  
utilities are underground, but were laid when the house was built,  
circa 1976. No cable lines. Which is one reason I got a satellite dish,  
DirecTV, shortly after moving in. And, yes, I have looked at satellite  
broadband options like DirectLink...not impressive at all.)  And the  
"Pringles can" approach is not something I want to spend my time  
engineering or debugging.)

My hunch is that Frederickson and Got.net have been forwarding copies  
of some of my e-mail to "law enforcement," which would have put them in  
violation of the ECPA, except that after 9/11 and the Patriot Act and  
all these actions are now considered just good corporate citizenship.

--Tim May





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