(no subject)

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad <olag@ifi.uio.no>]

Jon A. Lambert wrote:
>For instance, many of us on this list do not run our own E-Mail 
>servers.  I have no doubts at all that the administrator(s) of my
>E-Mail server, whom I have never met nor likely to meet, have the
>ability to read my E-Mail.  I don't consider the logging, back-up
>and storage of my E-Mail to be an immoral act.  If, however, my ISP
>should abuse this trust then we have a potential immoral action.

But an Email server is not a society, although I believe research can
tell that bosses "frequently" check up their employees' E-mail (and
personal disk space).  You won't know this until it is too late,
information accumulate.  Anyway this is not logging, this is system
storage, which is absolutely necessary to keep the system running.
This design is difficult to avoid, that is the MAJOR difference.
Exessive logging is easy to avoid.

I believe each individual should be able to control the circulation of
their own communication.  Can you really trust an administration on
the other side of the earth, does abuse have any significant
implications for the admin? (it would for AOL) Another point: in email
you are able to protect yourself by encryption.  But I think this is
true: a lot of people get very upset when they learn that email isn't
safe.  I recently read an popular article where "a telecom researcher"
said that email is as safe as snailmail! Can you believe this?

I know that admins in muds monitor users for their own amusment, just
as I know that telecom operators listen in on phonecalls when they are
bored.  They shouldn't, they are not allowed to (in Norway), but it is
possible, and they do it. :-(

Ola.