more on more on P2P Fuels Global Bandwidth Binge

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat org>
Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 15:48:10 -0600
To: Bob Frankston <Bob19-0501 () bobf frankston com>, <dave () farber net>
Subject: RE: [IP] more on P2P Fuels Global Bandwidth Binge

(I've finally gotten a minute to breathe after a solid week of work on
the wireless network. So, I have a limited amount of time to pick up
this thread.)

At 09:57 PM 4/17/2005, Bob Frankston wrote:
  
> I'm not trying to be insulting -- just using alternative phrasing to
> emphasize the point.

It's not "alternative phrasing," Bob. Please look back at your earlier
messages. Not only are you imputing to me views I do not hold, but you
are doing so in a way that's very insulting.

> It actually does take a lawyer to figure out what's
> legal and not and then it takes a judge.

No. It takes a judge to decide how the law bears on a particular case. And
it doesn't take a lawyer to figure out a law, even if it's a bad one.
Remember,
our Constitution prohibits vague laws.

> Common law is about interpretation
> and precedent. It becomes more complicated because lawyers are typically not
> technologists and make grievous errors of fact.
>
> Back in 1970 I did take a joint class with Harvard Law and they were begging
> for people with a technical background.
>
> The reason I keep harping on the legal issue is that you keep framing the
> issue as one or morality.

Again, you keep using the world "morality," which implies some form of
dogma and/or unthinking belief. The fact, plain and simple, is that
disseminating
illegal copies of music is against the law. And the vast majority of the
transactions 
we see taking place via Kazaa and similar software are illegal.

> If you simply said that you aren't selling the
> capacity for P2P connections I wouldn't raise the issue at all.

Sure you would. You'd complain that I was "breaking end-to-end."

> You're the
> one that brought in what I see as an irrelevant issue -- the purpose of the
> bits and the ethical agenda.

In other words, you believe that what you're doing with the network doesn't
matter? This is a very dangerous stance to take, Bob. Because if you cannot
distinguish between legal and illegal uses of a tool, or if that tool
is overwhelmingly used for illegal activity and only occasionally for legal
purposes, it can and will be regulated and perhaps outlawed.

> I feel insulted because as an advocate of those
> activities I feel you're accusing me of pandering to criminals.

In a very real way, you're covering for them by advocating against any
practical way to detect, deter, and/or stop their activities.

> It would be
> no different than if you had told me that I can say anything I want as long
> as it was moral (or, if you prefer, ethical).
>
> You are simply saying you are selling a certain kind of service based on
> statistical assumptions that are violated by P2P. Does it matter whether you
> approve of the use?

If the use is illegal, it doesn't matter whether or not I approve of it.

> Of course everything will be encrypted -- BECAUSE I AM GOING TO MAKE SURE
> THAT IT IS ALL ENCRYPTED. Even though I'm too distractible that's my
> priority at the moment.

This, Bob, would be the worst possible thing you could do. Do you want to
see encryption outlawed? Given the volume of P2P traffic, you would make it
a 
statistical near-certainty that any encrypted connection traversing the
Internet is being used for illegal activity. You will thus create
justification 
for strong restrictions on encryption -- or even making it illegal, which is
something which many of us have fought hard to prevent. When the primary use
of a tool is to break the law, that tool is quickly restricted or outlawed.

--Brett 


------ End of Forwarded Message


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