ISP's...Big Brother?

I chose an article/blog entitled "AT&T and Other I.S.P.’s May Be Getting Ready to Filter" which can be located at: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/att-and-other-isps-may-be-getting-ready-to-filter/?scp=2-b&sq=illegal+internet+usage&st=nyt.

After searching on-line news for a couple of days, seeking out the perfect story within which I could dive in and rip apart, piece by piece, only to inject my ignorance, my feelings, and my hopes, I was beginning to feel a bit discouraged. I started to wonder if that story was really out there...that recent story anyway.

Low and behold, last night at dinner with my husband and son, I brought up the article referenced above, only to find within less than a minute the three of us were in the middle of a heated debate over tolerable internet usage and copyright infringement. I guess this was it...the story I'd been searching for was literally the first one I stumbled across two days prior.

The article AT&T and Other ISPS starts by reminding us that for more than a decade, the Internet has served as our "super highway" of information, without interrruption or impediment. However, due to recent theft of copyrighted materials, much evidence of which exists in many ways, shapes and forms, the lack of interruption and impede may come to a crashing hault. ISP's may become the new Internet "traffic cop."

Discussion is taking place among AT&T executives regarding the effectiveness of ISP monitoring and filtering at the netweork level. Such exercises already exist on the Internet, and AT&T is trying to come up with a diplomatic way of taking on this task without offending customers and infringing on their constitutional rights. AT&T is looking into their technological options and trying to create a marriage between the best option and diplomacy with their customers.

My feelings on all of this will probably not come as a surprise to anyone who has read my prior blogs and discussion boards. Simply stated, "if it's not yours, if you aren't the originator, if you didn't pay for it, if there is a visible or known copyright, IT'S NOT YOURS!!" It may serve to tell you that I used to work for a law firm who represented the record companies in their quest for retribution of stolen copyrighted materials. The people who stole those songs were not victims; they were criminals. Granted, some were honestly unaware of what they were doing, but those individuals were far and few in between. Besides, the law clearly states, ignorance is not a defense. If you are getting something for free, think about it a minute...your commons sense is usually accurate and will divulge that something is not quite right.

That being said, I would like to take this article a little further and dive into another constitutional rights controversy. Big Brother is an unarguably serious threat that we should never ever take lightly...it's no joke...it can happen. I've feared the book 1984 since I read it in the late 1970's. However, think of the individuals using the Internet to do harm, primarily to children, but also adults. Our constitutional rights are in some ways protecting them, while simultaneously putting the rest of us at risk. I don't necessarily believe that ISP monitoring the answer here; however, we are in need of laws restricting use of the Internet and enforcement of those laws. Like I said, this is a real grey area for me...something needs to be done, but a constitutionally-appropriate protection is not an easy resolution to find. So with that, I wish those bored enough to read my blog luck in finding that resolution. Big Brother is Watching You. :)