[It hardly seems like there's any real "controversy" here, and this instead is a case of a reporter trying a little too hard. It seems clear that (a) the site is legal under U.S. law, (b) that law is not going to change, (c) the question is not whether "Internet service providers and hosting companies" should be "accountable" for content but whether they should be liable for it -- a big difference. Reporters should think this through. If Newsfactor's ISP becomes liable for the content of Newsfactor articles, would the editorial staff be willing to take a pay cut to cover the ISP's libel insurance passed on in additional hosting fees? --Declan] --- From: "Xeni Jardin" <xeniat_private> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declanat_private> Subject: Controversy, legal questions over Hamas web site hosted by US firm Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 22:03:01 -0800 : : : : : : http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/17079.html Investigative Report: Terrorist Web Site Hosted by U.S. Firm Tue Apr 2, 9:08 PM ET Jay Lyman, www.NewsFactor.com A Web site glorifying recent suicide attacks in the Middle East that is hosted by a U.S. company is sparking legal and ethical questions about whether Internet service providers and hosting companies should be held accountable for content on their networks and Web pages. The site represents the group Hamas, which is a terrorist organization, according to federal officials and official U.S. classification. Department of Justice (news - web sites) spokesperson Jill Stillman told NewsFactor that groups are reviewed by the Secretary of State every two years for classification as terrorist organizations. The next review is scheduled for 2003. She said the legality of a hosting agreement and a Web site hinges on whether the site is involved in soliciting funds, which this particular one is not. However, Stillman said, the U.S. government is aware of this site and others like it. She predicted increased discussion and debate about how responsible U.S. Web hosting companies and other firms should be for what appears on the Internet. "We won't comment on a particular site, but basically it's illegal when there's a solicitation of funds on behalf of a terrorist organization," Stillman said. "It's something obviously the government is aware of, and down the road, I wouldn't be surprised if there's more debate on it." [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Politech dinner in SF on 4/16: http://www.politechbot.com/events/cfp2002/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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