Somewhat OT: Information Wave bans RIAA

[pll at lanminds.com]

In a message dated: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 13:46:12 EDT
Ben Boulanger said:

>On Mon, 19 Aug 2002 pll at lanminds.com wrote:
>> Yeah, at first I was pretty happy with this announcement, but now I'm 
>> thinking it's just a form of censorship.  They have no right to tell 
>> me what sites I visit.  If I were a customer of theirs, I'd be paying 
>> for *Internet* access.  That means the whole Internet.  Not just the 
>> sites that they've deemed safe for me to visit.
>
>They have every right to tell you what sites you can or cannot get to.  
>You're signing up for their service, not the other way around.  You have 
>no "rights" to anything outside of what your contract says you have right 
>to... and even then, the contract usually says 'we have the right to 
>change this at any time'.  

Well, I can't find any such contract on their site.  The best I could 
find was a sign-up form which allows me to fork over a paypal account 
or credit card number.

However, they explicitly state that they are

	"a regional service provider providing Internet access,
	 network consulting, colocation, and hosting solutions
	 to the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut tri-state area."

Last I checked, riaa.com was part of the "Internet".  Now, there well 
may be a "Censorship clause" in the contract they insist I sign, but 
as I said, I could find no such thing available on their web site.

What they're doing is tantamount to Verizon saying you can no longer 
call AT&T because "their service might cause you problems".

>And likewise, you have every right to say "Sorry, you don't deserve my 
>money anymore".

Yes I do.  But my point was that they are stating on their web site 
that they provide internet access, but then restricting where you can 
go.  They should say "We provide censored internet access."  Which, 
technically, I guess they do with that news article.  

So, you're right, and I'm wrong. They are a private company, and can
do whatever they like.  Just like Blockbuster has the right to censor
the movies they rent, and WalMart has the right to not sell certain
movies and music.

But it doesn't mean I have to like it :)

(not that I have *ever* gone to the RIAA site before, or would ever want
 to in the future, I just think this is a dangerous and slippery slope
 to climb!)

-- 

Seeya,
Paul
--
	It may look like I'm just sitting here doing nothing,
   but I'm really actively waiting for all my problems to go away.

	 If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right!