TechWag

Your ISP an an Internet policemen at least in the UK got a bit harder today, but not surprising that an ISP would want to reject the idea of being responsible for what people do on the Internet.

This is a very slippery slope for the part of an ISP to start patrolling the Internet looking at what their users are doing, what protocols they are using, and in general how they use the Internet. There has been a lot of outcry on the use of Phorum software and that is just tracking for the sake of advertising. Tracking for the sake of RIAA, MPAA, IFPI, BSA, or any other corporate group is most likely going to suffer the same kind of negative public reaction.

He said: “Our position is very clear. We are the conduit that gives users access to the internet. We do not control the internet, nor do we control what our users do on the internet. “I cannot foresee any circumstances in which we would voluntarily disconnect a customer’s account on the basis of a third party alleging a wrongdoing.” Source: BBC

Realistically, ISP’s need to stay out of monitoring, not just because of cost, but with the risks of data loss, the risks to the companies image when it becomes generally well known that this kind of activity is going on.

While governments will monitor the Internet, e-mail, and just about everything else that someone is doing on the Internet looking for criminals in a Hoover like action, the ISP’s can not afford to work on behalf of a third party like a company. People have an interesting enough time dealing with warantless wiretaps that literally vacuum data off the Internet for a government organization. They will have a much harder time with companies doing the same.

Keywords: internet, isp, monitoring, ifpi, riaa, mpaa, nsa, wiretap, bbc, talktalk, business

Tags: technology, idea, data mine, Politics //