NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Update on ISP Actions Regarding C-Porn and Usenet
Update on ISP Actions Regarding C-Porn and Usenet
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000390.html
Greetings. The related ISPs have been working to clarify aspects of
the New York Times story that I discussed earlier today
( http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000389.html ).
The upshot is interesting. In contrast to the implications of the
Times piece, it appears that U.S. ISPs (unlike a newly penned deal
in France involving French ISPs) will not for the moment be actively
blocking any "class" of Web content, but rather will work to remove
c-porn sites from their servers (something most people apparently
assumed they'd been doing anyway ... ).
So the big to-do from the politicos about this aspect seems to best
be filed under grandstanding.
But there is a very disturbing additional element to this story.
Time Warner Cable says that they are cutting off subscriber access
to all Usenet newsgroups (child porn was found in 88 of the vast
number of total newsgroups). Sprint is cutting off 10's of 1000's
of alt.* newsgroups (and what a war it was back when those were
created long, long ago!) Verizon plans "broad" newsgroup cutoffs.
While Usenet newsgroups are certainly not the draw that they were
many years ago, they still have an important role to play in the
free exchange of legal information on the Internet today.
Using the presence of illicit materials in some portion of a content
stream as an excuse to abolish or decimate the legal content is
inexcusable. In fact, that sort of "guilt by association" and "we
can get away with this because most people don't know about it"
action is the very essence of a particularly insidious form of
censorship.
Of course, the ISPs could argue that they're under no legal
obligation to carry Usenet newsgroups in any form. This is true.
But then, most ISPs aren't under a legal mandate to provide
connectivity to any given Web sites, either.
So one might wonder, given these ISPs' eagerness to hoist much or
all of the completely legal content of Usenet on the petard of
fettering out c-porn, which aspects of the Internet will be next to
fall into the line-of-sight of their big red cutoff switch?
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
- Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com