NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Net Neutrality vs. Illegal Acts
This item from IP touches on an important facet of the NN debate. It's one thing to say that a particular instance of Internet use is illegal, but quite another to simply assume and treat an entire class of applications as illegal, or to inspect content on an a priori basis. The latter would be similar to listening in on *everyone's* phone calls in the hopes of finding those particular calls discussing illegal acts. Unacceptable. --Lauren-- NNSquad Moderator - - - ------- Forwarded Message From: David Farber <dave@farber.net> To: "ip" <ip@v2.listbox.com> Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:04:00 -0400 Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC commish: Net neutrality shouldn't extend to illegal acts Begin forwarded message: From: dewayne@warpspeed.com (Dewayne Hendricks) Date: March 20, 2008 12:07:52 PM EDT To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy@warpspeed.com> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC commish: Net neutrality shouldn't extend to illegal acts FCC commish: Net neutrality shouldn't extend to illegal acts By Matthew Lasar | Published: March 20, 2008 - 05:21AM CT <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080320-fcc-commish-net-neutrality-shouldnt-extend-to-illegal-acts.html > While key players are slugging it out over ISP content filtering, the Federal Communications Commission has released a slew of decisions and announcements about broadband. They include a new public hearing on broadband network management practices and new rules for telecommunications services in apartment buildings. And one of the commissioners attempted to ease concerns of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) over the impact of net neutrality regulations. (We covered the FCC's latest data on high speed broadband deployment last night.) Content filtering flap Earlier this week, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein told a symposium on Internet Video Policy that the various net neutrality proposals the agency is considering include "exemptions for illegal activities." Content Agenda's Paul Sweeting reports that Adelstein said that the Commission will be "very careful about the use of the Internet for illegal purposes, and that includes the illegal downloading of copyrighted works, which is a very serious problem." But, Sweeting adds, that doesn't mean Adelstein approves of content filtering. "The problem is, how can you ever tell what's illegal?" Adelstein asked the gathering. This issue, of course, flutters close to the heart of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and MPAA, parties which have filed early and often in the FCC's proceeding on the matter. The MPAA's February 28 statement asserts that "ISPs must be able to use network management techniques to address the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted content taking place over their networks, for the benefit of legitimate consumers and subscribers." The powerful movie studio lobby filed the comment over a week before taking a public stand against net neutrality at the Showest convention in Las Vegas. There, MPAA boss Dan Glickman declared that government regulation of the Internet "would impair the ability of broadband providers to address the serious and rampant piracy problems occurring over their networks today." The MPAA's stance has provoked a less publicized but quite furious response from the Independent Film and Television Alliance, whose CEO Jean Prewitt forwarded the IFTA's statement to the FCC's net neutrality docket. Prewitt's March 14 comment disclosed that the group was "astounded to read" that the MPAA had come out against net neutrality. Describing the Internet as the only truly open opportunity for independent filmmakers, Prewitt called that hope "threatened by the power of a small number of broadband providers to discriminate unilaterally against some categories of users or types of traffic or to accord preferential treatment to certain content providers over others, all under the ambiguous claim of 'network management'." [snip] ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ------ End of Forwarded Message