Re: [Pearg] Research Group Last Call for "A Survey of Worldwide Censorship Techniques"

[Eliot Lear <[e-mail]>]

Hi Chris,

Several points.

I have a concern about the use of the term “censorship”.  Is removal of fraudulent material censorship?  How about taking down a system that part of a DOS attack?  Is taking down a system that is attacking critical infrastructure censorship?  Is botnet disruption censorship?  Are FCC frequency rules against harmful interference censorship?  By the sweeping definition given, they are.  This  immediately diminishes the credibility of the work because it flies in the face of what normal people think censorship is.

I would propose a narrower definition, and at least some discussion to make clear that we are all handling double-edged swords.  I don’t think doing this invalidates the content that follows.  Even better would be for you to find a more value-neutral term that acknowledges the nature of the problem, although I would concede that I have no great suggestion.  

Also, it seems to me that a reference check is in order.  If we look at Sections 6.2 and 6.3 the authors are discussing various forms of takedowns, and a reference is made to [Anderson-2011].  To begin with, as a nit, the first person on that work is Murdoch, not Anderson.  Second, the chapter referenced doesn’t go into any detail about take downs.  There are better more specific references such as Moore and Clayton, and specifically “The Impact of Incentives on Notice and Take-down”, WEIS 2008, although I would imagine that there is even later work available.

Finally, did I miss the part where one discusses domain name takedowns by registry, or has that not been used as a form of censorship?

Eliot