DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

The Register reports that EFF co-founder John Gilmore’s home network was cut off by his ISP for running an open relay. To this I respond, Ha!

Gilmore is quoted as saying this amounts to censorship. This is ridiculous! Software exists to provide precisely the functionality he needs (allowing roaming users to send mail through his system), but he’s apparently not willing or able to configure it.

The problem is that his open relay allows spammers to send junk mail. Spam/UCE/junk e-mail is much more threatening to the Internet than Gilmore’s conceived threat (that ISPs could lose “common carrier” status by filtering packets). But the bottom line is that having an open relay is unnecessary — the argument over rights and interpretations is moot.

I think the Electronic Frontier Foundation has done some wonderful, admirable work, but in this particular case I think they’ve made a mistake. The EFF has access to the resources it needs to fix its co-founder’s home network, I’m quite certain; this need not become a huge legal issue.