On April 27, 2014 at 21:56 LarrySheldon@cox.net (Larry Sheldon) wrote:
On 4/27/2014 8:59 PM, goemon@anime.net wrote:
If the carriers now get to play packet favoritism and pay-for-play, they should lose common carrier protections.
I didn't think the Internet providers were common carriers.
Here we go again! There is more than one commonly used meaning for "common carriers". There is a Communications Common Carrier as defined in the US Communications Act of 1934 regulated under the FCC and as subsequently amended by...blah blah blah. And there is the much older common law usage which can apply to trains, planes, taxis, delivery services, stagecoaches, etc which basically recognizes that in general many services engaged in "COMMON CARRIAGE". They can't be assumed to know what (or who for that matter) they are carrying for a fee -- when they don't. Obviously if one can prove they did or should have known that's an exception. So therefore shouldn't be assumed responsible for the contents if illegal or whatever. And not dragged into civil lawsuits if, e.g., someone claims that carrying the package caused harm unless perhaps the carrier threw it at the head of the recipient in which case they'd probably be culpable. Another requirement of a common law common carrier is that they provide their service to the public without discrimination other than ability to pay and whatever reasonable rules apply to everyone -- e.g., package can't be dripping liquid or weigh more than someone's "before" picture in a nutrisystem ad. The details of that of course have been beaten to a fine powder in court cases and subsequent law and regulation. SOOOOO...an ISP (et al) can be considered a common law Common Carrier without being a Common Carrier as defined in the Comm Act 1934 (and subsequent, Telecom Act 1996, etc.) ISPs don't in general have knowledge of the contents of the data they carry except when you can prove that they did which is generally assumed to be the exception or as a result of being served proper notice. But I thought we agreed on all those terms in 1991 on the com-priv list? :-) IANAL, if you mistake what I said for legal advice or accuracy you are your own fool. But I don't have to be an animal expert to point out y'all don't know the difference between a dog and a cat. -- -Barry Shein The World | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 800-THE-WRLD | Dial-Up: US, PR, Canada Software Tool & Die | Public Access Internet | SINCE 1989 *oo*