a577@mindlink.UUCP (Curt Sampson) (09/21/90)
> smo@pogo.ai.mit.edu writes: > > Also, if I were to set up a BBS, is there any way I could gain common carrier > access? How did phone companies get their common carrier access? I don't know what the situation is in the US, but you certainly don't want to do this in Canada. Unlicenced common carrier service has some quite severe penalties, I belive, and many restrictions as well. For example, a common carrier is not allowed to examine the messages transfered. There was a case up here some time back where a telephone repairman working on some lines overheard a conversation between two people planning a murder. He reported it to the police but the case was dismissed from court and he ended up loosing his job. You could conceiveably be tossed in jail for reading private messages on your board if it were a common carrier. -cjs ( Curt_Sampson@mindlink.UUCP )
brnstnd@kramden.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein) (09/21/90)
In article <10885@life.ai.mit.edu> smo@pogo.ai.mit.edu (Shawn O'Connor) writes: > Isn't it theoretically possible to conduct a citizen's arrest on an agent > attempting to seize your newsletter for violation of your first amendment > rights? or for preemptory seizure of your newsletter? On what basis? What crime is the agent committing? > Is citizens arrest a myth? It is when you're trying to arrest policemen or the Secret Service. > If it is, is there any other way to turn the > situation around at the time of the attempted seizure? Call your lawyer as quickly as possible. Make sure the agents have a warrant. Past that, what rights do you reasonably expect to have? (My Mac is attached to a desk with a steel cable. If the desk were solid metal... Hmmm, I think I'm onto something here... :-) ) > Also, if I were to set up a BBS, is there any way I could gain common carrier > access? How did phone companies get their common carrier access? It's not ``access.'' The FCC (which implements communication regulations) decides what qualifies you as a common carrier. > Is the internet a common carrier? Is Tymnet a common carrier? I don't think this has been completely settled in court yet. Certainly as the regional telephone companies grow in the network business (like NYSERNet), it'll become easier and easier to defend the Internet as a common carrier. ---Dan