Date   : Thu, 24 May-1984 16:19:05 PDT
From   : vortex!lauren@Rand-Unix.ARPA
Subject: BBS legal issues

If there's going to be a big discussion of "freedom of speech" over
this BBS issue, then PLEASE move the discussion over to POLI-SCI and
off of CPM and MICRO.  I also doubt that we need to see the same
messages five times in both lists.

It's amusing that so many people have seen fit to comment
on this subject, but I haven't seen anyone mention what the 
offending message was all about!  Well, it apparently had to do with
the posting of illicit access codes for one of the "alternate" long
distance telephone companies.  This is an illegal act and
clearly should be.  It isn't a question of "freedom of speech,"
it's a question of fraud and theft.  The only interesting legal question
here concerns the responsibility of the owner of the BBS itself.

It seems fairly self-evident that some degree of responsibility 
is necessary, otherwise these systems could provide
convenient meeting-grounds for all sorts of illegal operations, all
under the guise of dialup anonymity.

As usual, a few bad apples are spoiling the public access computer
system world just as they ruin so many other aspects of 
our society.  I'm certainly not suggesting that the owners of BBS
systems be subject to felony prosecutions (providing
that they truly were unaware of the offending messages) but it
seems that SOME level of responsibility must be maintained.

If this whole event is over the posting of a single message that the
BBS sysop really didn't know anything about, then the level of legal
action taken is clearly out of line -- it would have been better for the
authorities to work WITH the sysop to locate the person who
posted the message.  On the other hand, there have been BBS's
which ENCOURAGED or at least openly tolerated such messages as 
a matter of policy, and they should certainly be subject to 
legal penalties.  The problem in this particular case may have
been "simple" overreaction by some specific authorities, who will
probably back down if this was truly a one-time event and didn't
represent the ongoing "policy" of the BBS.

Can you imagine what would happen to a company which made a policy of 
KNOWINGLY allowing the posting of illegal credit card numbers on 
the bulletin board of their hallway for the use of their employees?
Can we agree that this company would be liable for some form of
prosecution?  I think that there is a strong analogy between this
situation and the BBS public message board situation.  The legal
question should revolve around the continuing policy of these
boards, not around single, isolated events.

I don't claim to have an exact legal formula for dealing with
this issue, but often it is best to look to the way we deal with 
the same sorts of problems in a non-computerized environment for
some hints.

--Lauren--