[10881] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: The FCC strikes the Internet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Marty Salo)
Sun Mar 13 14:42:51 1994
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 10:18:48 +22311151 (EST)
From: Marty Salo <msalo@garnet.acns.fsu.edu>
To: Miles R Fidelman <fidelman@civicnet.org>
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <Pine.3.89.9403122039.A6838-0100000@world.std.com>
OK, if you equate e-mail to common carrier, I'll agree; however, the
religious right from the old school is not likely to sit idly by with what
is available on usenet. And as a for instance, I am regulated on what I
can have at my web-site. Granted, most of it is common sense, such as,
don't be petty, or whatever, because then the systems guys might have to
take away the student HTTP ability. Not that I'm complaining, heck, I
don't want to slam (insult) people, I'm just pointing out that, in all
liklihood, not every aspect of the net will be regarded by the FCC as a
common carrier type of thing. I could be wrong, and it would be nice if I
were, but I think that some people might tend toward getting offended by
some of the things that are on the net. It would be nice if everybody
could just take what they like and leave the rest, but the very fact that
every year, in numerous libraries, books are challenged (as to their merit
for being in the library) (on grounds from gratuitous sex _The Joy of Sex_
to satanism _The Devil and Mrs. McBane_ -- I'm not sure about this one,
but it clearly has the devil as the bad guy, and does not promote
satanism) leaves me unsure.
Marty Salo msalo@garnet.acns.fsu.edu
Shameless Self-aggrandizing Plug: If you have access to the web,
(G)oto [http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~msalo/index.html] - very useful
On Sat, 12 Mar 1994, Miles R Fidelman wrote:
> On Sat, 12 Mar 1994, Marty Salo wrote:
>
> > Can you name an area that the FCC regulates where they do NOT also
> > regulate content? How much regulation of content will the FCC enforce as
> > a price for keeping the rates low?
> >
> >
>
> How about all of common carrier regulation - where the thrust is
> precisely to not only NOT regulate content, but also to make sure that
> neither do common carriers. Note that a side effect of this is that
> common carriers are not legally liable for how people use their
> facilities -- in contrast to say, broadcasters, who always have to tread
> a fine line over pornography, libel, etc.
>
>
> **************************************************************************
> Miles R. Fidelman mfidelman@civicnet.org
> Executive Director 91 Baldwin St. Charlestown MA 02129
> The Center for Civic Networking 617-241-9205 fax: 617-241-5064
>
> Check out our gopher server:
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> on the list of all gopher servers in the world.
>
> Information Infrastructure: Public Spaces for the 21st Century
> Let's Start With: Internet Wall-Plugs Everywhere
> Then We Can Worry About: "Switched, Interactive, Broadband Services"
> **************************************************************************
>
