On 8-Aug-2004, "Autoloukos" <Alexander@Mieza.Playing> wrote:
> Could you please elaborate on the 'security concerns' regarding EasyNews?
It's recent hearsay (and also this was bantered about back during their
infamous massacre several months ago) that EN has taken a proactive stance
in notifying authorities (giving their customer info up) without even being
asked to. This change in policy has superceded previous policy of only
giving up customer info when presented with a court order. A particular
scary sentence is contained on their web site. It says:
"There are no restrictions or rules that govern the content an individual
may post to UseNet. There are individuals that will post illegal content,
such as CP. If we are alerted to it, it is our policy to remove it and
forward any header information we have to US Customs and the FBI for
investigation."
Now, what is scary about this, is that they refer to illegal content "such
as CP." By this, "such as" caveat, they are not limiting themselves to CP
but as I read it they can also include warez groups' postings and anything
else they deem reportable. I see no speed bumps here. For example if they do
want to report CP, it is EN who makes that determination. Just suppose a
totally legal image of a naturist content that happens to be of someone
under the age of the law (as defined by the United States Code by the way)
was posted thru EN and they forward that image and the posters info to the
government. Then I see a very real possibility of a broken down door, a
seized computer and months and big dollars being spent for legal help. If I
seem to have taken this a bit far, perhaps this is true. Judging from the
present climate, and mixing in the recent behavior of EN, who can blame me?
I see no problem using EN for strictly download purposes, especially if you
use a proxy. As for posting, each individual needs to make their own
determination and they should pay particular attention to ENs' change in
policy from being reactive to proactive.
I hope this was sufficient elaboration.
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