Re: Can You Go to Prison for Lying to a Web Site?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Eugene H. Spafford [spaf () mac com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 9:06 AM
To: ip
Cc: David Farber
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:  Can You Go to Prison for Lying to a Web Site?

Let me also point out that -- amidst all the people talking about
"rights to free speech" and the like -- the Internet is
international.  There is no global right to "free speech" as we view
it in the US, nor is there a global right to anonymous speech.  But
the Internet is global and any international borders there are largely
illusory.

If person X insults my prophet or my ruler in my home country, he
might be put to death; I may not have to worry about "her" doing that
locally, because women may not be allowed on the Internet because of
local law, religion and custom.  So, if you make the same insults from
a computer in another country, what is the appropriate action?  How
about if our countries don't even have diplomatic relations let alone
extradition treaties?

In the case at hand, suppose the person making the posts was actually
someone in China or India or an unknown country?  What would the
prosecutor be doing?

As was already noted, the law in this area is still evolving.   We all
are going to be part of the solution -- and the problems -- for some
time yet to come.  In the meantime, we should think carefully before
we proclaim either that "that should be illegal" or "that should be a
right" -- people in other parts of the world have different
sensibilities, and different conceptions of justice that we may find
even more uncomfortable than the situation we are trying to address.

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