Ed Greshko wrote:
Ian Malone wrote:
Starbucks (in fact, TMobile, or whoever happens to be running
the franchise) is acting as an ISP in that case.
OK, then pick any number of other establishments that have WiFi that
don't act as their own ISP....and their are many for crying out loud.
It's not that I'm picking holes in your choice of example.
IANAL. And I didn't elaborate because the circumstances will
vary according to local laws. Telecoms providers must have
some protection against being held responsible for all the
damage their users can do, otherwise no-one would ever run
a telecoms company; at the same time negligently allowing
others access to the internet could allow them to cause a lot
of damage. The existence of a contract to provide a service
is an important part of this: you promise not to do anything
bad and in return they let you use the network, with the
understanding that if you /do/ do anything bad they will not
hesitate in helping to track you down and string you up.
See also 'safe harbour' and 'good-faith'.
--
imalone
