Phishphreek you're dead on the track I am thinking about. What *does* constitute liability? If I let you borrow my gun to go hunting, and you rob a liquor store instead, how much blame can I incur? What if I know you are a hunter, but you're depressed, you've pawned all your guns, and you are really strapped for cash, and you keep eyeing that liquor store on the corner...how much culpability do I deserve? What if, knowing you are a raging alcoholic and drunk driver, I loan you my car on a Friday evening? These are all older issues that ring similar.

How much like an ISP am I, if I setup the net so people can communicate with the rest of the online world? As an American, am I not just empowering those in my vicinity to excercise their freedom of speech? Or am I participating or allowing the participation in illicit communications designed to undermine the government of these United States?

I think some case law will need to be laid down before we get concrete answers on these ideas. You have to remember, while the US legislature writes the laws, and the Law Enforcement agencies investigate and charge suspected violators, our *courts* are the ones who interpret and act upon the laws. If everyone always takes a plea, it doesn't give the courts much voice in the matter, except for some often limited sentencing.