Online Journalists are ISPs?

Posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday October 11, 2003 @02:58AM from the declan-brand-dialup dept.

MFS! writes "Long-time C|Net reporter and Politech operator Declan McCullagh has been contacted by the FBI, according to his most recent article. The FBI requests that he retain all records regarding his talks with Adrian Lamo. The problem? The FBI's letter was sent under the auspices of a law which applies only to internet service providers. Says Declan, "Perhaps I'd be immune from the FBI's demands if I used an Underwood No. 5 typewriter instead." Does writing online now qualify one as an ISP?"

1 of 196 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:Ashcroft is doing a bit of this, isn't he by mpe · 2003-10-11 06:08 · Score: 4, Insightful

Ashcroft's major malfunction is forgetting that in the American system, we'd rather make the mistake of letting the guilty go free than putting the wrong person in jail. As a result, we make it hard for law enforcement to arrest and hold people. We require that proof be presented to the public when they want to do so.

But somehow the US has managed to wind up with a higher proportion of its residents in jail than any other country on the planet.