Jim Fitzgerald wrote:
> If the downloading was done on her computer, Santangelo thinks it may
> have been the work of a young friend of her children. Santangelo, 43,
> has been described by a federal judge as "an Internet-illiterate
> parent, who does not know Kazaa from kazoo, and who can barely
> retrieve her email." Kazaa is the peer-to-peer software program used
> to share files.
Interesting newsgroup attitude here:
In the problem with the kid who porned himself, people said it was the
parent's fault for not knowing what the kid was doing. But here
apparently it's perfectly ok for the parent to be lnternet illiterate
and not know what the kids were doing.
We can't have a double standard.
I think this case and the other illustrates the dangers of an
unbridled Internet. We can argue that the motorist is ultimately
responsible for how he drives the car, but that doesn't stop us from
spending billions on external safety devices to protect the motorist
from his own driving errors. The truth is that motorists do drift
across the center line and that's why we have medial strips to protect
against head-on collisions, for example.
There are no seat belts, medial strips, speed bumps, or anything else
on the Internet. We have people committing crimes and not even
realizing it.
Regarding this music download case, did the PC come equipped with the
software needed to download the music? If so, why did the PC mfr
provide such a tool? Why didn't the music's owner protect its site
from unauthorized downloads? Why didn't the ISP warn the downloads
were illegal?
How did the PC user -- presumably the "innocent stupid kid" -- know
where to go and how to download the illegal music? Maybe the kid
isn't so innocent and is indeed a thief. Would we let the kid get off
free if he stole a carton of records from a music store?
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are close, Lisa, but not completely
correct. You can type on a computer (as in downloading music) and an
unsophisticated mother will not know _exactly_ what the kid is doing,
whether she stands there for a couple minutes or all day. On the flip
side, if the little guy has a camera turned on and is acting out
sexually with either his friends or an older guy or whatever, if mother
comes in and sees it, there will be hell to pay. I am sure mother is
not _that_ unophisticated. PAT]
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com