Actually, we *do* call ourselves Dutch -- in English. Germans don't call themselves German either, except in English. They call themselves Deutsch in German. And Republicans don't call themselves Republican either, they call themself Du-- er, no, wait, that's what *we* call them.:-)
In any case, 'Netherlandish' is completely wrong. Either call it 'Dutch' or 'Nederlands'. I just call it home.
Re:This is not the victory that many of you think
on
XS4ALL Wins Anti-Spam Suit
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· Score: 4, Interesting
You are looking at this from the wrong side. ISPs were already perfectly in their rights, from a legal viewpoint, to block whatever and whoever they want. They are private companies *without* special governmental or legal privileges or duties (contrary to postal companies, for example.) Because of the 'youth' of the new media, very, very few regulations bind them, other than 'internet conventions' and the laws of public opinion, and supply and demand.
XS4ALL has always wanted to change that, has always opposed censorship and blocks of any kind (except self-imposed by users, instead of ISPs) and what this court ruling states is that because XS4ALL explicitly and implicitly imposes the conveyance obligation on themselves, it is as legal as if it were a forced obligation.
The reason there are no exlicit legal bounds to the rights and privileges of email, other 'new media' communication methods (think IRC, ICQ/IMs) and ISPs in general is simply that this is a 'new' media. This court ruling means that another step is made towards legitimizing and legalizing the rules and regulations that bind ISPs and the duties they have to attend to, as well as public (as in 'beyond the computing/internet community') awareness of the issues. This is important. It is not a single solution; it is not the big strike that ends spam immediately. It will be a long process but at least progress is being made. That is the hippy coolness of this news.
Actually, no, this isn't true. The quoted pieces of the ruling do not show it, but XS4ALL claims to have the legal obligation of delivering all mail (unless otherwise indicated by the user(s) themselves) and the complete ruling actually stipulates this:
The essential point is that XS4ALL has no legal conveyance obligation. It has nevertheless given its users and/or customers and/or subscribers (hereinafter referred to as customers) a commitment that it will convey all e-mail messages and has thus imposed a conveyance obligation upon itself.
Please read the entire story at www.xs4all.nl/uk.
The court ruled 'no legal conveyance obligation', yes, which is indeed a pity. It is up to each ISP to declare that for themselves, and up to each individual to make sure they choose an ISP that does exactly that:-)
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Actually, we *do* call ourselves Dutch -- in English. Germans don't call themselves German either, except in English. They call themselves Deutsch in German. And Republicans don't call themselves Republican either, they call themself Du-- er, no, wait, that's what *we* call them. :-)
In any case, 'Netherlandish' is completely wrong. Either call it 'Dutch' or 'Nederlands'. I just call it home.
XS4ALL has always wanted to change that, has always opposed censorship and blocks of any kind (except self-imposed by users, instead of ISPs) and what this court ruling states is that because XS4ALL explicitly and implicitly imposes the conveyance obligation on themselves, it is as legal as if it were a forced obligation.
The reason there are no exlicit legal bounds to the rights and privileges of email, other 'new media' communication methods (think IRC, ICQ/IMs) and ISPs in general is simply that this is a 'new' media. This court ruling means that another step is made towards legitimizing and legalizing the rules and regulations that bind ISPs and the duties they have to attend to, as well as public (as in 'beyond the computing/internet community') awareness of the issues. This is important. It is not a single solution; it is not the big strike that ends spam immediately. It will be a long process but at least progress is being made. That is the hippy coolness of this news.