nanog mailing list archives
RE: ISP contracts and government intervention
From: "Daniel Golding" <dan () netrail net>
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 01:16:21 -0400
Ethan, "blackhat" seems a strong term for an ISP that wishes to operate without government interference. There are many ISPs that are not US based, and many ISPs that would provide service to anyone with cash, as long as a court order does not exist to prevent or stop suck service. The only "credentials" someone needs is a positive return on a Dun and Bradstreet credit report. Paying in advance tends to get around even that. Check out HavenCo, and it's purpose. I think it may be the sort of thing you are looking for, although I would certainly never call it a "blackhat" operation, as it is completely above board, just not interested in government (over)regulation. ("hats" are for hackers. I don't think you'll find many folks who wear such figurative headgear on NANOG) - Daniel Golding
-----Original Message----- From: owner-nanog () merit edu [mailto:owner-nanog () merit edu]On Behalf Of ethanpreston () hushmail com Sent: Monday, July 02, 2001 2:16 AM To: nanog () merit edu Subject: ISP contracts and government intervention Apologies in advance for the non-technical nature of the query. I am a law student researching a law review article on censorship on the Internet. My partner and I are investigating the legal consequences of placing a ISP offshore, in a jurisdiction like Anguilla, Nevis, the Caymen Islands or some other place like that. Part of our problem is that we're ignorant of the business practice in the area. I figured I'd go to the horse's mouth, rather than playing footsie on the legal lists. Its probable that the ISP could be run in an offshore jursidiction with strong financial secrecy regulations and any U.S.-based managers/owners would be insulated from legal action because they could not be identified (at least, with American subponeas.) On the other hand, a U.S. judge could presumably order the offshore ISP's U.S.-based upstream ISP to cut off that ISP (or even the entire jurisdiction, depending on the situation) for DMCA violations, gambling, etc. Basically, its an issue of how the community would go about dealing with a blackhat ISP. An initial question is how closely do backbone providers/upstream ISPs look at offshore ISPs to begin with? What kind of identification/credentials does an ISP need to come up with to get a contract? Specifically, do backbone providers figure out who the beneficial owner of an ISP is before they hook up the ISP? If someone pays the bills regularly, do they need anything more than what's in whois.arin.net? The next set of questions deal with how long a blackhat ISP could stay connected. Under what circumstances would an upstream ISP/backbone provider cut off the offshore ISP before a court order? What are the choices in the market for backbone providers that are not U.S.-based (and therefore wouldn't be subject to U.S. legal process)? Free, encrypted, secure Web-based email at www.hushmail.com
Current thread:
- ISP contracts and government intervention ethanpreston (Jul 01)
- RE: ISP contracts and government intervention Daniel Golding (Jul 01)
- RE: ISP contracts and government intervention Daniel Golding (Jul 01)
- RE: ISP contracts and government intervention Mitch Halmu (Jul 02)
- Re: ISP contracts and government intervention Christopher A. Woodfield (Jul 02)
- Re: ISP contracts and government intervention Mitch Halmu (Jul 02)
- RE: ISP contracts and government intervention Matt Wilbur (Jul 02)
- Re: ISP contracts and government intervention Adam Rothschild (Jul 02)
- RE: ISP contracts and government intervention Daniel Golding (Jul 01)