[178872] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: FCC releases Open Internet document
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lamar Owen)
Thu Mar 12 15:30:29 2015
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2015 15:25:00 -0400
From: Lamar Owen <lowen@pari.edu>
To: nanog@nanog.org
In-Reply-To: <5501D498.3080208@invaluement.com>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
On 03/12/2015 02:02 PM, Rob McEwen wrote:
> On 3/12/2015 1:30 PM, William Kenny wrote:
>> NO BLOCKING:
>> A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service,
>> insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not block lawful content,
>> applications, services, or nonharmful devices, subject to reasonable
>> network management.
>
> The document (if I read it correctly) states that "reasonable network
> management" includes spam filtering.... (yeah!)
>
> However, in spite of that... it seems to give the MISTAKEN impression
> that:
>
> (1) ALL spam is ALWAYS... NOT-lawful content
> (2) ALL lawful content is NEVER spam.
>
>
I think the issue is adequately addressed by the R&O's paragraph 222 and
its neighbors, with footnotes 571, 572, and 573 elucidating. The short
version: the FCC is not going to rigidly define this and leave it up to
the providers, but they will address it on a case-by-case basis if need
be. At least that was my takeaway.
> Nevertheless, in such a circumstance, 47 USC 230(c)(2) should prevail
> and trump any such interpretation of this!
>
> (If anyone thinks that 47 USC 230(c)(2) might not prevail over such an
> interpretation, please let me know... and let me know why?)
>
It would seem, but I am not a lawyer, that perhaps it would. It's not
directly addressed in the portions of the R&O that I've read thus far,
and that specific paragraph is not cited that I could find. A Good
Samaritan law, in 47 USC..... fun stuff.
