On May 1, the US Supreme Court upheld (without comment) the NY State Court of of Appeals ruling in Lunney vs. Prodigy Services Co., 99-1430. Choice quote from the NY State ruling: "Prodigy was not a publisher of the e-mail transmitted through its system by a third party. ... We are unwilling to deny Prodigy the common-law qualified privilege accorded to telephone and telegraph companies. ... The public would not be well served by compelling an (internet service provider) to examine and screen millions of e-mail communications, on pain of liability for defamation." <http://www.theregister.co.uk/000501-000006.html> ("The appeal stemmed from a suit by a teenager against Prodigy Services Co. after an imposter opened email accounts in his name and sent vulgar bulletin board postings and threatening messages to a third party, who then filed a police complaint.") So, what *is* an "ISP"? Is it Joe Cypherpunk with a linux box and a cable modem? What if he has a handful of users? What if he runs an anonymous remailer? Perhaps it's wishful thinking on my part, but this would appear to be great news for US remops.
