John Levine wrote:
Because of the importance of the Internet in general, I would
suggest that RFCs include a legal considerations section for aiding
lawmakers, where relevant. Am I out of line?
I really don't think it's a good idea for us technonerds to be giving
legal advice. Just think of the technical advice that lawyers would
give us, and then ask yourself why ours would be any better.
I think he's suggesting we give law_makers_ advice. Which is likely
even more dangerous.
Moreover, the IETF has a long history of endless arguments about legal
issues, most notably intellectual property, which rarely comes to
a conclusion. So let's not.
We had a "bit" of legal maunderings in the DNSBL BCP (which I think is
the "not yet seen" document you were referring to), and we took it all
out for those reasons.
In the BCP
(http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-irtf-asrg-bcp-blacklists-04), we say:
These DNSBLs vary widely in purpose for which the list was intended,
the method the list uses to achieve the purpose, the integrity of
those overseeing the method, and the stability of the technology used
to create and distribute the data. Listing criteria can sometimes be
quite controversial, therefore this document deliberately does not
discuss the rightness or wrongness of any criteria. We assert that
DNSBL operators are free to choose whatever listing criteria they
wish, as long as those criteria are clearly and accurately
communicated. It is the responsibility of the DNSBL user to ensure
that the listing criteria and other aspects of a DNSBL meets their
needs.
Taken within context of the rest of the document, the implicit "take
away" should be that any listing criteria is legitimate, as long as
they're clearly/accurately communicated, and it's the responsibility of
the user to choose the one that fits their requirements. Without
rubbing it in lawyer/judge faces.
The slant we're trying for is that "it's all routine operational stuff".
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