Bob Izenberg <bei@dogface.austin.tx.us> (06/28/91)
On June 19th, I mailed a FEEDBACK message to CompuServe's
customer service account. I had some questions suggested by a FidoNet
sysop's concern over a message in German that passed through his
system. He couldn't translate it, and so wondered about his
responsibility (liability might be a better word) in having it on his
computer and in passing it on to others. It was suggested that he
post the German text to a CompuServe message and someone would then
translate it for him. This led me to ask CompuServe for an official
statement about some of their policies, and their views on the legal
status of a public distributed network. I informed them that I would
post their reply to Usenet. Rather than mix my questions and their
answers (and risk losing the flow of their reply,) I'll put the
questions first and the reply after.
(1) If a CompuServe customer dials their local access number,
and transmits a message or file, did they send it across state lines?
They dialed a local node, which then packeted up the message and sent
it to CompuServe in Ohio. So who sent it across the country, the
customer or CompuServe itself?
(2) Publishers of allegedly abscene materials have been tried,
not in the state in which they publish, but in states where the
publications have caused complaints to be filed. If CompuServe
displayed, with the proper permissions, a controversial photo exhibit
(Robert Mapplethorpe was the example that I used) and complaints were
filed, could every city where CompuServe has a local node be the site
of a complaint, or would they all have to be filed in Ohio?
(3) CompuServe isn't a common carrier. The information sent
from the local nodes are probably sent, unmonitored and regardless of
content, to Ohio. Is the CIS node analagous to a radio repeater,
whose owner (under FCC regs) is held accountable for all message
traffic, regardless of where and with whom it originated? Or are the
local nodes legally irrelevant, as the customer intends for the
message to be transmitted to CompuServe's Ohio facilities?
Here is the message that CompuServe sent back.
To: Bob E Izenberg
Fr: Karl Turzi
Customer Service Representative
Dear Mr. Izenberg:
I will address a few of your specific questions first, which may help
clarify what you're asking.
First, as far as our own "awareness" of what is sent thru Mail for
example, our Mail system is "secure" in the sense that items sent via
Mail are not examined by CompuServe. They, therefore, are not subject
to our examination, and therefore not subject to scrutiny as to
whether or not we or any one else finds their content obscene.
Forum messages, however, are indeed public. If a message is posted
that "may be interpreted as obscene", which in itself is a vague area
(you used the Mapplethorpe exhibit as an example of said ambiguity),
the first thing we will do is contact the person who posted it to
determine their intentions. The person who posted it would then share
in the decision to remove it. We would not remove it as a matter of
procedure or policy.
To answer your next specific question, when you connect with us via
modem, thru one of our local nodes, you are connecting with our
computers in Columbus, regardless of your calling location. As for
whether a data network is considered to be only the mainframes or both
the mainframes and the phone network that inter-connects them, you
would need to consult an attorney who specializes in such things to
learn the ramifications of interstate/international data communication.
The questions that you pose regarding responsibility of the data that
is transferred on said networks are all very hypothetical and without
precedent, They, therefore, are subject to the discretion of an
attorney or court in each specific instance.
I thank you for considering CompuServe to be a reliable source for
information on this topic, yet due to the speculative nature of your
questions it would be best if you actually consult an attorney who can
help you explore the complexities of the regulations concerning data
communications.
Most sincerely,
Karl Turzi
[ end of CompuServe's reply ]
Since I'm not a lawyer of any kind, I can't say whether it's
the law or my questions that were vague. In the case of the German
message mentioned earlier, if it was indeed something nasty and
transmission to a local access number does constitute transportation
across state lines (as a phone call to Ohio would,) then a "higher"
level of law enforcement might be called upon.
I know that I've picked a pretty negative example to ask the
question "Where, geographically, is the network?" It does seem that
an issue of only academic interest generates more discussion if the
enforcement and policy arms of government become involved.
Thanks to the CompuServe rep for providing their official
stance on what may be an area of law for the future to further define.
Opinions expressed in this message are those of its author, except where
messages by others are included with attribution.
Bob Izenberg [ ] bei@dogface.austin.tx.us
home: 512 346 7019 [ ] CIS: 76615.1413@compuserve.com