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In article <1.5.4.32.20000921065613.00fb1220@192.168.0.65>, Donald Ramsbottom <don...@ramsbottom.co.uk> writes

It was interesting to see Mark's email posted in public (sans his usual PGP signatures that allow one to check if it has been changed ... but it didn't look tampered with).

It was especially interesting to see "with permission" on the top of the page ! This must have been Mr Simmon's permission.

The MPAA did indeed write to Demon. They quoted a great deal of US law and a US judgment.

They were asked to explain how relevant this to the UK (they may not have been aware of Demon's physical location) but they have yet to respond to the email that was sent back to them :(

"buckled" ?? this is tabloid-speak :-(

The MPAA letter suggested that the customer was not authorised to publish the DeCSS material. The standard procedure for such matters was then put into effect and the customer was invited to explain what permission they had.

The response was that the DeCSS material is said to be "public domain" [[a complex concept, but exploring its depths is probably not relevant]] so there was no question at present of an infringement of Demon's AUP for web space. Hence no further action at present.

The "threat" (more tabloid-speak) was present in the email because it is necessary to set some sort of reasonable time limit for a response (otherwise people would never respond lest they lose out in some way, which can be problematic from Demon's point of view).

In the event the response was prompt and so the "threat" disappeared - as indeed it usually does.

The procedures that Demon operate in cases of complaint are applied whether it is the MPAA complaining or the web site owner's girlfriend...

If the right to publish material is questioned (whether it is DeCSS or a photo of a pet cat) then these procedures involve putting the matter to the web site owner ... which is exactly what happened here.

By all means discuss the MPAA's operations in the UK... but bringing Demon into the middle of this is of strictly limited relevance.

- -- richard writing to inform and not as company policy fewer than 10 MPs still need adopting: http://www.stand.org.uk/ "Assembly of Japanese bicycle require great peace of mind" quoted in ZAMM

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