[governance] ISP liability - a critical IG issue

[linda misek-falkoff]

Hi Milton and All Colleagues, copied to 2 groups very much interested in
sustaining connections (both as adjective plus  noun, and verb plus noun).:

This spicy account is much appreciated, thank you for monitoring and
memorializations.

It did seem when ARPANet forward one took an *attempted* (necessarily meagre
and partial) long look toward an Internet future post NSF
stewardship -  that business plan(s) wise and wary would put in place a
substantial period of marketing (in fact some intermediate Net purveyors did
use that term); one question is what  access and various precieved
ingratiating freedoms (and rights and responsibilities) would be sustained
after the appetites grew into hungers.

Again, appreciate much your symmetrization (I say spicy because of the flair
in some of the wording, etc., themselves for which thanks - not bland, not
meek.

Thank also to successor posts and all the interesting links and catch-up
knowledge.

Warm regards, LDMF.
Dr. Linda D. Misek-Falkoff
*Respectful Interfaces*
For I.D.:
Communications Coordination Committee for the U.N.
CONGO education committee
National Disability Party
International Disability Caucus
Persons with Pain International
WSIS, IGF, CFP onsite participant.
2007 Nominee: Global Alliance for ICT Strategy Council.
4+ decades on Internet and Prior Nets



On 7/7/08, Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:
>
> Excerpt from a news article:
> The European Parliament is continuing down a repressive path as it prepares
> a series of amendments for its Telecoms Package. As yet there seems to be
> little awareness by Europe's citizens over what is being planned.
>
> Essentially, a legislative path is being plotted which will make ISPs
> liable for the activities of those using their networks and, having done
> that, will enable multinational corporations to mount mass law-suits against
> alleged copyright infringers in Europe. By being liable for their own users'
> activities, ISPs will be obliged to hand over data about subscribers when
> law enforcement agencies or even corporations, demand them.  At least this
> is the long-term plan.
>
> Amongst the scores of tiny, innocent-looking law changes being proposed to
> lay the legal groundwork for this new legal offensive, is an attempt to end
> the legal immunity granted ISPs over the content being carried across their
> networks.
>
> In Europe this immunity flows from the so-called 'mere conduit' status
> granted ISPs - similar in many ways to the 'common carrier' status which
> defines the rights and obligations of US carriers.
>
> There are many reasons to have 'mere conduit' protected. Mostly, it is
> important to ensure the free flow of information without those owning the
> network being able to dig in and block some users and promote others. The
> basic concept that every citizen must have free access to information is
> enshrined in basic European principles, so the ending or blunting of 'mere
> conduit' status will seriously erode that basic safeguard.
>
> Once all the paving measures and sneaky preparations are in place, national
> governments will be free to go along with the repressive measures advocated
> by the copyright lobby -  up to and including what is essentially privatised
> justice, where a big content owner (or alliances of content owners) will be
> able to mount a mass law suit against alleged copyright infringers on the
> Internet.
>
> Important votes on various telecom package amendments are expected through
> July
> ____________________________________________________________
>
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