Online Journalists are ISPs?

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?"

Comments

Means Justify ends Re:Bending and twisting

[leoaugust]

It is the singular focus of the current Administration, and it seems to have percolated down the whole law enforcement system - to decide first what to do and then figure out how to Bend and Twist laws till they have a fig leaf of a defense .... As the Justice Department Spokeswoman put it in a different situation, but relevant to what is happening " Our policy is to use all legal tools available ... meaning, we will throw the book at you if we could just find something that .... We know what we want to do with your sorry a*** and if you give em a few moments I will find something the the law book that I can intrepret to justify what I have already decided to do ...

From NY Times article archived http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0603-10.ht m

The department itself was unapologetic. "Our policy," said Barbara Comstock, a spokeswoman, "is to use all legal tools available to protect innocent Americans from terrorist attacks." The aggressive tactics used against people held on minor immigration violations were, civil libertarians said, a natural result of the department's new approach. "When it's in this preventive mode," David D. Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University, said of the Justice Department, "it by definition sweeps very broadly and ends up harming hundreds if not thousands of people."

Great.

[Anonymous Coward]

So this law changes as the government redefines what ISP means. They have taken the traditional meaning of ISP (That of an Internet Connection Provider) and extended it to cover to anyone who provides "services" on the web.

This law, really, REALLY needs to be revised. This was NOT an intended consequence of the law, AFAIK. I thought it was so that Internet connection providers would be able to provide information about internet access to the FBI. Anyone else know more details?

ISPs are carriers

[defile]

And not liable for the content they transmit. They are however liable for content they host on their servers, but only once they are notified and given a reasonable amount of time to remove it.

The powers the FBI has been granted to boss around ISPs does not apply to content providers (like web sites).

I suspect what the FBI tried to do was demand logs and other information from Declan's, perhaps even demanding they look through his web space. Either they refused, had nothing useful, or maybe he handles his own hosting, the last one which may be grounds for the FBI to call him an ISP (which is probably enough to get a judge to grant the power, but not enough to stand up in court).

This is my best guess as to what happened, and I don't know anything about his situation and IANAL.

Knock, knock, yes you are an ISP!

[im a fucking coward]

As a 20 year member of the Republican party, this is just too kind:

An apology is too much to ask for. An unequivocal statement from the FBI and Ashcroft that this will not happen again and no subpoenas will be forthcoming--even if proper procedures are followed--is not.

An apology, immediate removal of all parties involved, and a pledge from my party to directly not only remove the mis-named 'Patriot Act', but to apologize en masse for having thought of such a dreadful, stupid, and intellectually void piece of legislation like this, is in immediate order.

Perhaps I'm too vague, but let me, as one of those responsible for voting said representatives into office, be the first to offer my humblest apology for what can only be termed a complete cluster fuck of an idea. In my own defense, they didn't dress like S.S. Wafen, and therefore fooled the shit out of me.

When the wanna-be storm troopers in my party finally realize that long standing members of good repute (great, there goes that) won't vote for invasions of civil liberties any more than we'd vote to re-institute slavery, apparently they'll be out of office. You Democrats will have to handle your own ranks, I've got enough trouble already.

History, read it and remember, you pathetic morons. Zieg Heil!

--
"I am not a crook!" -- Another paranoid Republican doomed to ignominy. Wait, where is that? Iowa? That'll do.

PS: No, I have no intention of stopping these types of diatribes until my elected officials at least pretend to want more freedom for all peoples, journalists, and innocent ISP's.