(my last post in this thread)
Charles Cazabon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Punish ISPs because one of their users happens to break the law?
> How quickly do you want the ISPs to go out of business because they
> can't afford/obtain insurance against the acts of their users?
Not to worry. The ISP will gladly clamp down on misuse of any kind:
they will block "AMTP" packets at their firewall, and verify the
"stamps" on any email they relay; they will immediately terminate
customers who are reported for "spamming" by _anyone_, without any
sort of "due process"; and they will either block all outgoing
connections to nonstandard ports, or they will "sniff" packets for
text which resembles email (and terminate without proof or warning).
These measures will not especially harm the ISP, since any
inconvenience to users will be blamed on "regulations". Furthermore,
only a small minority will actually comprehend the situation. Most
users will accept the additional charges on their credit cards as the
cost of life on the infobahn.
Technical ability, final authority, and lack of the restraints binding
(constitutional) government are an intoxicating mix. Never fear:
techie-totalitarianism will be fed, not harmed, by such threats from
government.
Len.
--
40. Strive not with your Superiers in argument, but always Submit your
Judgment to others with Modesty.
-- George Washington, "Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour"
