Re: Lawsuit threat against RBL users

• To: [email protected]
• Subject: Re: Lawsuit threat against RBL users
• From: Paul Vixie <[email protected]>
• Date: 19 Nov 1998 09:00:27 -0800
• In-Reply-To: [email protected]'s message of 18 Nov 1998 23:25:28 -0800
• References: <[email protected]>
• Sender: [email protected]

[email protected] (Scott Michel) writes:

> From reading this list, it doesn't sound like RBL is being used as a
> tool to squelch the disenfranchised. I can't say I know Paul Vixie
> all that well, but I think he'd be the first to raise a red flag if
> RBL was being used as a tool to censor people.

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary says of "censor":

| 2 : one who supervises conduct and morals: as (a) : an official who
| examines materials (as publications or films) for objectionable matter; (b)
| : an official (as in time of war) who reads communications (as letters) and
| deletes material considered sensitive or harmful

So technically I *am* a censor.  As to the disenfranchised, well, I'm more
interested in the tragedy of the commons than I am in the welfare of the
sysop.com guy.  But we did suggest that if he was unable or unwilling to
disconnect his spammers, he ought to put his spammers on separate web an
mail servers (even if only virtually different, i.e., different interface
alias addresses) from his non-spammers.  We only want to blackhole his
spammers, not him personally nor his entire business.  He refused on the
grounds that we ought not be allowed to dictate his business practices.

> Paul only provides a mechanism, so you can't sue him. It's like the
> City of Chicago trying to sue the gun makers for aiding and abetting
> murder after the fact -- plainly guns don't kill people, people kill
> people. Take this analogy a step further: RBL black-holes spam, but
> people implement RBL to deal with people sending spam.

At the moment there appear to be no grounds for a civil suit, which is
too bad -- I'd really like to create some case law since congress is
being gutless.  The RICO or Sherman stuff is more applicable, and if
this sysop.com guy contacts his local DA then he might be able to cause us
(MAPS, that is) some trouble.
-- 
Paul Vixie <[email protected]>