[11891] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Seeking advice
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (DAN L. BURK)
Sat Apr 23 00:21:53 1994
Date: 22 Apr 94 21:52:00 EST
From: "DAN L. BURK" <DBURK@gmuvax.gmu.edu>
To: "com-priv" <com-priv@psi.com>
Larry Berg writes:
> If systems operators conspire to blackball Canter & Seigel from accessing
> the Inet they will run the risk that they will be charged with major
> Civil Rights violations or possibly even RICO charges.
I am hard pressed to come up with any civil rights violations that would
flow from kicking someone off your system, even in collaboration with other
sysops. I am not aware of any constitutional right of access (although
Larry Tribe at Harvard has proposed a constitutional amedment along those
lines). First amendment? Probably not. Lawyers are not a suspect class,
so forget the fourteenth. I'm not even sure that the sysops in question
could be considered state actors.
RICO requires two or more underlying criminal violations -- I see none in these
facts. Antitrust might be a possibility, but even that's a stretch.
Dan L. Burk
dburk@gmuvax.gmu.edu
