🚀 go-pugleaf

All@Sea <All@Sea> wrote:

> I should think that anyone providing a service has the 'right' to monitor
> what is carried by them. I'm sure that if they do want to monitor an 
> individuals 'account' they would need the same permission as do BT for
> monitoring 'phone calls, and the P.O people's mail. etc. etc. 

Not at all. When you sign for an account, you're effectively providing
permission, which you're not doing when you have a phone line installed
or post a letter.

What bothers me in this account monitoring issue is the whole 'common
carrier' argument. In the past, Demon and almost every other ISP have
claimed 'common carrier' status along with BT and the PO. If you were
caught sending offensive or illegal material in a parcel, the Post
Office couldn't be prosected as they have 'common carrier' status.
Likewise BT if you were caught making offensive phone calls. The problem
with ISPs claiming CC status is this : If they're a common carrier, why
monitor anyone's accounts?

It's all a legal minefield anyway, and I don't think the law is clear at
all (in the UK at least) where this is concerned.

ATB, Frank.


-- 
   Frank Charlton : Freelance Journalist, Web Designer & .netjunkie
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