On Wed, 23 Jun 2004 12:53:28 -0400, John Glube wrote
Are you suggesting that ISPs want to be classified as "common carriers?"
Some do. In theory it prevents them from being held liable for illegal uses
of their networks. (If I use my phone to plot a bank robbery, the phone
company can't be considered to have any responsibility -- they're a common
carrier. But what if I use my email to plot a bank robbery? Is the ISP at
all responsible? This might be a far-fetched example, but similar issues come
up in, for example, downloading of copyrighted music.)