Obligation to _whom_? My only obligations are to those who _pay_ me for access to my systems/resources. If the people who *do* pay me for use of my systems/resources "don't want" that cr*p, then I do 'have an obligation' to _not_ deliver that traffic.
Nonsense. You have tort obligations as well as contractual obligations. Specifically, if you take custody of someone else's data, and you have no contract with that person, you have a tort obligation not to destroy it. Your argument is similar to a mall that claims they can shoot people who don't buy anything. After all, their only obligation is to those who pay them. But of course neither you nor they can do that. By setting up a network and connecting it to the Internet, you know that you will sometimes carry packets that are neither from nor to someone with whom you have a contract. Those are not your packets, and you have no contract with their owners, but you handle them in the ordinary course of your business, so you have a variety of tort obligations to them. The same would be the case if I used FedEx to return something of yours to you. If they destroyed your property, you would have a claim against them even though you didn't pay them for anything. I see the view you are expressing quite commonly among network operators and it is, IMO, dangerous. It is, of course, your network. But it handles other people's data. Of course, you can protect your own network. Just as FedEx can destroy a bomb if someone tries to ship it through them. But you cannot do whatever you want with "your packets" unless they really are your packets. I will defend your right to do anything reasonable. However, it is incorrect and dangerous to assert that because it's "your network" you can do anything you want. Even if it's your mall, you can't invite people into it and then shoot them just because you have no contract with them. DS