[ NNSquad ] Re: Speculation, how AT&T can implement "copyright filtering"

[Edward Almasy <ealmasy@scout.wisc.edu>]

On Jan 31, 2008, at 2:57 PM, Brett Glass wrote:
> At 11:04 PM 1/30/2008, Cliff Sojourner wrote:
> > tell me again, what is all the discussion about?
>
> Apparently, it is about attempts to regulate the Internet. Not by  
> providers, but by third parties who would like to regulate and  
> micromanage ISPs.

Who are these "third parties" you keep trying to pin blame on?  Is the  
NNSquad group a "third party"?  From where I'm sitting it appears  
there are only two significant parties in this debate:  ISPs and end  
users.  Any government action to regulate ISPs is (or at least should  
be) undertaken on behalf of end users (i.e. citizens), and most of  
what's been tangibly proposed by members of this group and in similar  
forums is specifically intended to empower end users to make informed  
decisions.

Whether it's downloading via P2P, running their own mail server, or  
operating a streaming webcam, end users are doing it because they want  
to, usually for their own direct benefit -- not because they were  
duped by some nefarious third party.  Obviously everyone here supports  
blocking machines that have been hijacked, but that's not what we're  
talking about;  the issue is whether it's okay for ISPs to hinder or  
block intentional usage by their customers, and, specifically, whether  
it's okay for them to take advantage of loopholes and/or ignorance to  
do so without their customers knowing explicitly what's being done  
(e.g. Comcast, BitTorrent, and RSTs).

Ed

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