On Tue, Nov 02, 2010 at 01:47:30PM -0400, Scott Loveless wrote: > > Are they? The list server is, I think (please slap me around if I'm > wrong), located in the US. I'd like to think, and if it were up to me > they would, that anyone within the borders of the United States would > enjoy the same constitutional guarantees as a citizen. "All men" and > "inalienable" are powerful words. But since we're not all in the same > place, who's laws apply? If the list server were located in Iran, > could our Iranian friend Doug Brewer be prosecuted for blasphemy when > some loudmouth atheist/Christian/Jew in some other part of the world > spouts off? > > That's an interesting statement, Adam. I'd be curious to know how > well our governments have worked this sort of thing out, but I'll > probably be disappointed by the answer. If there is an answer.
It depends on the jurisdiction where the server is located. In the US it is generally held that ISPs, list service providers, &c. are protected by "common carrier" rules. This means that as long as they don't exercise a priori censorship and the like they can't be prosecuted for what shows up on customer content parts of their sites, Rules in other parts of the world may well differ. And even in the US there are some rules that have to be followed; protected speech is not an absolute carte blanche; laws on libel (and hate speech) apply. An ISP, list provider, etc. may have to remove offensive content if so ordered by the courts, and may be found liable for damages in the civil courts; as others have pointed out, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from all consequences of that speech. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
