During an exchange on this blog in 2014 with an individual named Anonymous—it must have been a very popular baby name at some point—I was told, “Yes, yes, David, show us on the doll where the Internet touched you, because we all know that all evil comes from there.” That discussion was in context to the internet industry’s anti-copyright agenda, but ...
After the 2016 election and news began to break about the amount of fake information and manipulative content that was being financed by various parties, it seemed clear that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (1996) would soon be the number-one cyber policy issue in the United States. Recently, in response to the latest horror show of back-to-back spree ...
In 2015, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) introduced a bill that would make it a federal crime to engage in what is generically called “revenge porn.” I say generically because “revenge” alludes to a specific motive, usually that of a disgruntled ex-boyfriend who decides to get back at a former girlfriend by distributing intimate or sexually explicit images of her online. ...
This blog contains several posts questioning the premise that the ISP liability shield known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 is a “sacred” law, without which the internet would cease to do all the wonderful things it does. Like foster a more rational, diplomatic, and thoughtful political climate around the world. (Because that’s going so well.) ...
First, a refresher. The broad immunity provision known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was adopted in 1996 as an incentive to internet service providers to take affirmative steps to remove material. Congress wanted to encourage sites to take down certain types of offensive or obscene content (e.g. child porn), and the ISPs asserted, quite reasonably, that taking ...
