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 )
smo@pogo.ai.mit.edu (Shawn O'Connor) (09/21/90)
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?
Wouldnt you then need the equipment for evidence in your case against the
agent?
Is citizens arrest a myth? If it is, is there any other way to turn the
situation around at the time of the attempted seizure?
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?
Is the internet a common carrier? Is Tymnet a common carrier?
Wouldnt freedom of speech also come into play? What if I set up a BBS
and said all posts were part of a collective work of Fiction
('and all resemblance...'), anyone with any legal expertise care to comment
on how that would affect the chances of having your equip. seized?
-Shawnbrnstnd@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
urlichs@smurf.sub.org (Matthias Urlichs) (09/24/90)
In comp.org.eff.talk, article <3252@mindlink.UUCP>,
a577@mindlink.UUCP (Curt Sampson) writes:
<
<[...] 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 losing his
<job.
Something like this happened in Germany a few months/years(?) ago.
In this case, the repairman checked the line because it was busy a long time,
and happened to hear much the same thing.
The parties were convicted, but not on the evidence of the repairman.
Presumably he told his superviros, who told the police, who managed to get
enough other evidence once they knew about the plan.
(And the repairman was not fired.)
--
Matthias Urlichs -- urlichs@smurf.sub.org -- urlichs@smurf.ira.uka.de /(o\
Humboldtstrasse 7 - 7500 Karlsruhe 1 - FRG -- +49+721+621127(0700-2330) \o)/