Politech mailing list archives
FC: Sen. Kyl's views on how the Feds should yank Net access
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 15:12:11 -0500
Here's info on a Freedom Forum media and violence debate next week (the person taking the pro-free speech side is a longtime politechnical): http://www.freedomforum.org/first/1999/12/9ombudevent.asp
From: MerrittDC () aol com Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 08:04:32 EST Subject: Govt-Mandated Suspension of Internet Access To: declan () well com Declan -- My name is David Safavian. We met yesterday at the CSE event. Per our discussion, I have jotted down the language of the Kyl bill that treats internet access as a government granted privilege (which can be suspended by the government at will), rather than the civil right of the new century. Specifically, Page 21, Line 8 of S. 692 states: [US courts shall have the authority, upon petition from qualified law enforcement agencies to issue:] "(I) an order restraining the provider from providing access to an identified subscriber of the sustem or netowrk of the interactive computer services provider, if the court determines that there is probable cause to believe that such subscriber is using that access to violate [the gambling prohibition] . . . , by terminating the specific account of the subscriber." This seems to pose at least two significant problems: (1) A state attorney general could seek to turn off my internet access not with a successful prosecution (proof beyond a reasonable doubt), but instead with a lesser showing merely of "probable cause." (2) Will this set the precedent for other politically incorrect activities? What happens if Matt Drudge is sued for slander? Will this lead to the government utilizing internet access as a carrot (or loss of net access as a stick) to modify behavior? Regardless of one's views of gambling, this seems to have been overlooked by most technology commentators. Equally disturbing is the fact that many ISPs are complicit by negotiating these terms with Senator Kyl. They seem to
have
put their interests above those of their subscribers. Any thoughts? David Safavian
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- FC: Sen. Kyl's views on how the Feds should yank Net access Declan McCullagh (Dec 03)