[It hardly seems like there's any real "controversy" here, and this instead
is a case of a reporter trying a little too hard. It seems clear that (a)
the site is legal under U.S. law, (b) that law is not going to change, (c)
the question is not whether "Internet service providers and hosting
companies" should be "accountable" for content but whether they should be
liable for it -- a big difference. Reporters should think this through. If
Newsfactor's ISP becomes liable for the content of Newsfactor articles,
would the editorial staff be willing to take a pay cut to cover the ISP's
libel insurance passed on in additional hosting fees? --Declan]
---
From: "Xeni Jardin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Declan McCullagh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Controversy, legal questions over Hamas web site hosted by US firm
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 22:03:01 -0800
:
:
:
:
:
:
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/17079.html
Investigative Report: Terrorist Web Site Hosted by U.S. Firm
Tue Apr 2, 9:08 PM ET
Jay Lyman, www.NewsFactor.com
A Web site glorifying recent suicide attacks in the Middle East that is
hosted by a U.S. company is sparking legal and ethical questions about
whether Internet service providers and hosting companies should be held
accountable for content on their networks and Web pages.
The site represents the group Hamas, which is a terrorist organization,
according to federal officials and official U.S. classification.
Department of Justice (news - web sites) spokesperson Jill Stillman told
NewsFactor that groups are reviewed by the Secretary of State every two
years for classification as terrorist organizations. The next review is
scheduled for 2003.
She said the legality of a hosting agreement and a Web site hinges on
whether the site is involved in soliciting funds, which this particular
one is not.
However, Stillman said, the U.S. government is aware of this site and
others like it. She predicted increased discussion and debate about how
responsible U.S. Web hosting companies and other firms should be for what
appears on the Internet.
"We won't comment on a particular site, but basically it's illegal when
there's a solicitation of funds on behalf of a terrorist organization,"
Stillman said. "It's something obviously the government is aware of, and
down the road, I wouldn't be surprised if there's more debate on it."
[...]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice.
Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/
To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Politech dinner in SF on 4/16: http://www.politechbot.com/events/cfp2002/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
