From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@imsi.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 94 10:04:57 PDT
To: Patrick Juola <juola@suod.cs.colorado.edu>
Subject: Re: Are Remailers Liable for What They Remail?
In-Reply-To: <199408111645.KAA07094@suod.cs.colorado.edu>
Message-ID: <9408111704.AA29091@snark.imsi.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Patrick Juola says:
> My understanding is that, legally speaking, "considering [oneself]
> to be a common carrier" amounts to exactly nil -- that it requires
> a special act of some governing body to declare you to be a common
> carrier.

Not quite. If tomorrow you started a new overnight mail service, you
would probably be a common carrier if you acted like one, no act of
congress needed.

The question is not a simple one. My one conversation on this subject
with someone from UUNET more or less went "our lawyers say we should
act like one and hope the courts decide that we are right."

Perry