On Reddit, I ran into this article about N.Y. Attorney Genral Andrew Cuomo strong-arming Time Warner into shutting down Usenet servers because they may contain child porn.

I have always predicted that the government would pry open the gate to internet censorship using child pornographers as the crowbar. How can any sane person take the side of child pornographers? None of it surprises me. Bit torrent is probably next.

But what did surprise me was this comment on Reddit from Jeff Simmermon the Director of Communications at Time Warner Cable:

Ahhhh — the cool caress of reason. I am the director of digital communications at Time Warner Cable, and I’m really, really glad to see folks cutting through the alarmist hype here. We’re not blocking access to Usenet nationwide — we can’t do that. We’re not blocking access to anything. We’re simply making the decision to stop offering newsgroups hosted on our servers — anyone that wants to use Time Warner Cable to read Usenet groups hosted on other servers can do that unabated…f any of you want to follow up with me directly, feel free to e-mail me at jeff.simmermon@twcable.com, btw.

What Jeff stated here seems reasonable. However, below, I have a few questions for Jeff. I hope he will be kind enough to stop by and answer them.

What disturbs me most about this article is that the decision appears to be based on a power play by the N.Y. Attorney General. I don’t have a problem with a business making a voluntary decision, but this doesn’t look voluntary. It stinks of threats and coercion.

“We are attacking this problem by working with Internet service providers to ensure they do not play host to this immoral business,” Cuomo said in a statement released after a press conference in New York. “I call on all Internet service providers to follow their example and help deter the spread of online child porn.”

If you are unfamiliar with the Usenet, it was the original social networking app.

Question #1

Did Time Warner turn off usenet because hosting usenet groups is “playing host to an immoral business?” If so, what about all the years you did host usenet? What about all the current hosts of usenet? Are they suddenly immoral, because Andrew Cuomo declared them immoral?

Question #2

What role did the government play in your decision to stop hosting usenet servers? What other services are you willing to stop hosting if Mr. Cuomo asks you to?

Question #3

From the article, it seems clear that this move was designed to combat illegal content - child porn specifically. Is that why you pulled the plug? Were your servers hosting child porn? Or was it because they could potentially host child porn? Was a crime committed? Or was it some other reason? If it was another reason, why does Mr. Cuomo’s talk revolve around pornography and morality?

You see, if ISPs are willing to shut down entire services with millions of legitimate users and decades of archived information because of 88 instances of illegal activity, it seems to me they are willing to shut down anything the government asks them to close, regardless of actual abuses.

More illegal activity happens over the weekend on your local freeway than happened in 15 years on the Usenet. Why doesn’t the Attorney General shut down the freeway system?

The answer is obvious. Government charlatans scapegoated Usenet as a test run to find out how much resistance there is and to clear the legal arguments. It a safe start because the Usenet is old and its user base is decreasing, and they can grandstand about how tough they are on pedophiles. Most ISPs won’t think the battle is worth fighting.

This move will do nothing to fight pedophiles. It is only an opportunity for politicians to conduct a test run of internet censorship.

We all want to stop child molesters, terrorists, drugs, and drunk drivers (CMTDDD), but many tactics used to fight these problems are unconstitutional and are analogous to chopping off your leg to kill toe fungus.

If you surrender your rights to fight CMTDDD you’ve still given away your rights, CMTDDD will still exist, and will have stolen your most precious gift, your freedom. Don’t sell your freedom for the promise of utopia. It’s a Faustian bargain. They promise an end to suffering but they will never end it with government programs. Socialism always creates more suffering. The real choice is between freedom and occasional suffering and slavery and constant suffering. Instead, ask your politicians to stop the fear of CMTDDD from controlling our country, our policies, and our lives. Tell your politicians that you demand your freedom no matter what evil people do. Tell them you don’t want your phone tapped, your email sniffed, your internet censored, your movement curtailed, or any other constitutional right violated because of CMTDDD. Tell them you will not live in fear of CMTDDD and the best way to fight them is to stand up and preserve our freedom.

If you are looking for a quick easy way to send a message to your politicians, visit downsizeDC.org. They’ve made it as easy as possible to tell your politicians how you feel with a few clicks of the mouse.