Comments on: E-book privacy at the borders? Not now—but EFF’s fighting unreasonable searches. ‘Lolita’ fans, beware!

By: Brian Carnell

Brian Carnell — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:08:00 +0000

“Argh. I’m getting really tired of seeing this US-centric view pop up everywhere. Large parts of the world have had traffic limits and traffic charging more or less since day 1, because we’re not in as bandwidth-plentiful a situation as the US has been. Strangely enough, we developed just fine. Making you actually pay for your internet usage is no more anti-competitive than making you pay for your power based on how much power you use.”

Which is kinda funny, because the refrain in the U.S. is usually “OMG, we’re behind South Korea in bandwidth and broadband penetration.”

And broadband is also the key to avoiding the border searches. Don’t carry the files locally. I have a server in my basement and securely connect to it when I need to access files, keeping what is recoverable on my laptop to a bare minimum.

By: Dan Jackson

Dan Jackson — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:33:16 +0000

It would have happened sooner or later… ISPs can’t keep promising “unlimited” connections while simultaneously nerfing them behind your back. I for one would actually be happier with a situation where all the cards were on the table and I could pay for what I used – and more importantly, if I went over-quota I could actually pay extra to use more bandwidth instead of just being automatically nerfed until my usage went down.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:19:17 +0000

Many thanks, Nick, but I think Vint Cerf would disagree. The lack of bothersome limits for most people here in the States makes experimentation more common. Sure, light users pay more. But they get to enjoy the fruits of innovation. At any rate many thanks for a different perspective. Most of our readers, right now, as far as I can determine, are outside the States, and I love to hear “I beg to differ” from non-U.S. visitors. So keep speaking up! David

By: Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:13:00 +0000

Argh. I’m getting really tired of seeing this US-centric view pop up everywhere. Large parts of the world have had traffic limits and traffic charging more or less since day 1, because we’re not in as bandwidth-plentiful a situation as the US has been. Strangely enough, we developed just fine. Making you actually pay for your internet usage is no more anti-competitive than making you pay for your power based on how much power you use.