[866] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
More Common Carriers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jay Habegger)
Thu Jun 20 12:20:27 1991
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1991 10:17 MST
From: Jay Habegger <HABEGGER_J@bronze.Colorado.EDU>
To: com-priv@psi.com
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Kapor says that common carriers are "statutorily immune from liability arising
from the contents of messages they carry." Are they *statutorily* immune?
What is the statute (Cite?)? I always thought that there limited liability
was a result of case law. The extent of liability for paper publishers
was determined in New York Times v. Sullivan 376 U.S. 254 (1964) where
the court found that publishers have prior control over what they print.
In the case of telegraphy and telephony the court said that because
speed of transmission was important, common carriers are not held to
the same standards as print publishers. I am greatly simplifying the issues
here, but you might want to take a look at "An Electronic Soapbox:
Computer Bulletin Boards and teh First Amendment," Eric C. Jensen, The
Federal Communications Law Journal, October 1987. Although Jensen, is
talking about dial-up, PC based bulletin boards, may of the issues and
conclusions are applicable to the Internet.
You may also want to take a look at the Electronic Communication Privacy Act
of 1986 (P.L. 99-508) which prohibits "interception and disclosure of wire,
oral or electronic communications." In reading the Act, it would seem
that E-mail and other Internet type traffic is covered. Of course, that
remains for the courts to decide. The Act specifies some exceptions for
system operators, etc., but, all in all, it seems to be exactly the
type of legislation that you are advocating.
- Jay
