Re: What can ISPs do better? Removing racism out of internet

["Anne P. Mitchell, Esq." <amitchell () isipp com>]

> On Aug 5, 2019, at 10:02 AM, Mel Beckman <mel () beckman org> wrote:
>
> Patrick,
>
> You’re confusing the FCC’s definition of common carrier for telecom regulatory purposes, and the DMCA definition, 
> which specifically grants ISPs protection from litigation through its Safe Harbor provision, as long as they operate 
> as pure common carriers:
>
> “Section 512(a) provides a safe harbor from liability for ISPs, provided that they operate their networks within 
> certain statutory bounds, generally requiring the transmission of third-party information without interference, 
> modification, storage, or selection. [emphasis mine]
>
> http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/v27/27HarvJLTech257.pdf
>
>  -mel 

Section 512(a) applies very specifically to the copyright infringement issue as addressed in the DMCA.  While I don't 
disagree that this law school paper, written while Lovejoy was a law student, in 2013,  could be read as if ISPs were 
common carriers, they are not, and were not.   Even if it were headed that way, actions by the current FTC and 
administration rolled back net neutrality efforts in 2017, four years after this student paper was published.

All that said, this is very arcane stuff, and ever-mutating, so it's not at all difficult to see why reasonable people 
can differ about the meanings of various things out there. 

Anne

Anne P. Mitchell, Attorney at Law
CEO/President, Institute for Social Internet Public Policy
Dean of Cybersecurity & Cyberlaw, Lincoln Law School of San Jose
Author: Section 6 of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (the Federal anti-spam law)
Legislative Consultant
GDPR, CCPA (CA) & CCDPA (CO) Compliance Consultant
Board of Directors, Denver Internet Exchange
Board of Directors, Asilomar Microcomputer Workshop
Legal Counsel: The CyberGreen Institute
Former Counsel: Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS)
Member: California Bar Association