July 27, 2005
View Comments | Post CommentISP blocks access to its employee union's website
Related to recent discussions of media manipulation, Canadian telco "Telus," whose workers are striking, has blocked internet access to the employee union's website. No customers of Telus are able to access the site. If they can keep the other side from being heard, they can frame the debate. Discussion on Slashdot.
I've long thought that the weakest links in the chain of freedom on the internet are not the government, nor big corporations like the RIAA. The weakest links are the ISPs. They can control access, log access, censor content, shut down access when they want to, and their motivations are profit. The trouble with the DMCA and recent court rulings is that the ISPs are monetarily liable for infringement and they have become responsible for policing.
If the ISPs were better corporate citizens, they'd be nicer about not keeping logs or assuming the guilt of anyone who receives a good faith copyright infringement notification (which I've been on the wrong side of many times). Regulations on responsibility really need to change. Many ISPs have government-granted monopolies on the fiber in particular areas, and yet they have the right to control access to content. This isn't right.
UPDATE: It appears that Telus is actually breaking a bunch of laws.
Posted at July 27, 2005 4:19 AM | Comments (0)
