Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Exactly! Which is why authorities want magical, morphing new powers. 
My question is; what is the current procedure for non-internet-based criminal enterprises who are operating outside of your jurisdiction... say mail-order prescription drugs. How would the U.S. authorities go about stopping overseas companies from mailing prescription drugs to U.S. citizens (drugs they have no legal prescription for)? Could the U.S. Post Office be forced to destroy/confiscate mail from certain overseas addresses? Does the phone-company routinely block phone-calls to overseas numbers if their business's product/catalog would be deemed illegal in the jurisdiction where the phone company operates?
If I called an overseas business and had them mail me material that was illegal for me to have in my possession... who (if anyone) would be responsible for halting me from doing that... or to intercept the contraband? Would the authorities ask the phone company and/or post office for their records to assist them in bringing me to justice? Or would they expect the phone company and/or post office to automatically thwart my illegal activity using their own resources? |
Well, you are allowed to order illegal products from outside the country. But, as you try to import them (through post or any other means) customs has the opportunity to inspect and find the offensive item(s).
So, to extend the metaphor, the appropriate chain of events would be:
Allow the pirate bay to be viewed,
Allow users to attempt to download torrents,
Inspect the data packets and block those that contain offending items.
The beauty of this is that you don't need to catch every offending data packet, just enough to make the item useless, which could be as few as one.