[ NNSquad ] Re: Push Continues for Mandated Internet Access Bans

[Brett Glass <nnsquad@brettglass.com>]

At 10:06 AM 2/12/2008, Lauren Weinstein wrote:
 
>Greetings.  It's reported that while ISPs are still hoping for
>voluntary agreements, there is a push onward in the surveillance
>society of the United Kingdom to terminate the Internet access of
>file sharers declared to be downloading in an illegal manner
>(however this might be defined by the MPAA, RIAA, and cohort groups,
>one would assume).  

I can see it now: "The Man Without a Network." This is not totally
without precedent; Kevin Mitnick, for example, was prohibited by
a judge from using computers or even telephones for quite some time.

However, it seems unlikely that this could be enforced (it would
surely be unconstitutional to do so in the US, at any rate) unless 
the person who was stealing intellectual property was convicted of 
a crime, as Mitnick was. And it's more likely that, rather than
banning a pirate from access to the Net, a judge would require
adult supervision.

--Brett Glass