Re: Belgian court rules that ISPs must block file-sharing

[Mark Andrews <Mark_Andrews () isc org>]

In article <20070705222812.E6693766064 () berkshire machshav com> you write:
> http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,134159-c,internetlegalissues/article.html
>
> Note that this is based on their interpretation of EU law.
>
>
>               --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb

 "The court has confirmed that the ISPs have both a legal responsibility and
 the technical means to tackle piracy.  This is a decision that we hope will
 set the mold for government policy and for courts in other countries in
 Europe and around the world," IFPI Chairman and CEO John Kennedy said in a
 statement.

        Someone has succeeded in pulling the wool over the court's
        eyes if it has been convinced that there is a technical
        mechanism to do this.  A ISP does not have access to enough
        information to determine this.  The same file can be both
        legally and illegally copied over the same network.  What
        determines the legality is the standing of the parties doing
        the copying not the actual content.  Even content that is
        illegal to possess may still be legally transmitted when
        such content is evidence.

        There is only one technological fix that will be 100%
        effective and that is to shutdown the network.  There is
        absolutely no way that a ISP can determine is any file
        transfer is illegal or not.

        This means no HTTP, no SMTP, no anything.

        Mark