Andrew Cuomo Gloats Over Getting AOL To Do What It Already Does

from the nice-work dept

Fri, Jul 11th 2008 11:46am — Mike Masnick

We've already pointed out how ridiculous it is for NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to be pressuring ISPs to start blocking news groups and access to certain websites with "objectionable" content. Doing so actually makes the problems Cuomo is trying to fix worse. That's because he's not actually going after the source of the problem, meaning that it will continue to exist and just be harder for law enforcement officials to track down. This is pure political theater with Cuomo getting his name in the headlines for pretending to solve the problem, when all he's really done is get some ISPs to sweep the problem under the rug -- where it's only going to fester more.

Even more ridiculous, however, is the latest announcement from Cuomo, gloating over the fact that two more ISPs, AT&T and AOL will join with the ISPs from the original announcement and cut off access to newsgroups and objectionable websites. In the case of AOL, this is especially ridiculous since it's already done this for many years. Declan McCullagh even got AOL to admit: "We have not changed any policies or procedures as part of today's announcement."

Of course, "we're doing what we've always done" doesn't make good headlines for ambitious politicians.

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Filed Under: andrew cuomo, isp blocking, porn
Companies: aol, at&t

8 Comments

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Nyle, 11 Jul 2008 @ 12:25pm

Thanks Andrew....
Just like your dad you keep costing me more money and taking away things. I use newsgroups for legitimate purposes not porn. Now Time Warner has used this pressure to simply stop paying for them. If I want to still access newsgroups, I've got to pay $9.99 a month to get access on top of my $45 cable modem bill.

Wow, great move - thanks, I really needed New York State to cost me another $120/yr when we already have some of the highest taxes in the nation.

Talk about using your public office to run for Governor. That's the next stop right? A bid for governor. We see how well that last Democrat Attorney General did for New York.

Perhaps, the NYC/Albany liberals can elect some new blood for a while and for once could it be a Conservative? We could all use a little bit of conservative thinking in NYS instead of more tax and spend Democrats.
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Overcast, 11 Jul 2008 @ 12:38pm

It's like a virtual book burnin'!!!
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Mizchief, 11 Jul 2008 @ 12:39pm

"Pressured" is not the word for it..
I don't think that ISP's are being "Pressured" to do anything. Just like traffic shaping to kill bit tourents, degrading streaming video, and content filtering for copy-protected sharing; The ISP's are using this as an excuse to cut down on the traffic so they can charge for "unlimited" access without having to spend as much on infrastructure.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2008 @ 1:20pm

People still use AOL? I miss the free coasters they sent you every month.
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cvpunk, 11 Jul 2008 @ 2:17pm

Re: Thanks Andrew....
"Perhaps, the NYC/Albany liberals can elect some new blood for a while and for once could it be a Conservative? We could all use a little bit of conservative thinking in NYS instead of more tax and spend Democrats."

I like how people keep acting like there is difference in republican and democrat politicians.... it's so cute.
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John Duncan Yoyo, 11 Jul 2008 @ 5:58pm

Re: Thanks Andrew....
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Emilio, 12 Jul 2008 @ 4:52am

He clearly believes he's on safe, proven political ground (save the children) with wide support and little downside. The common wisdom is that only a tiny fringe even know what Usenet is. Does anyone have accurate statistics as to how many active users there really are (or were?) I wonder just how many New York voters he has now enraged with his 'home run' political issue?
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Turd Nugent, 12 Jul 2008 @ 11:25am

Re: Thanks Andrew....
Perhaps, the NYC/Albany liberals can elect some new blood for a while and for once could it be a Conservative? We could all use a little bit of conservative thinking in NYS instead of more tax and spend Democrats.

Stop listening to Hannity and think for yourself. The "liberal vs. conservative" line is tired and outdated. The reality is that it's a class war being waged, not a "red v. blue" debate, so you would do well to understand which side you are on. Unless you are a multi-millionaire, you're just chattel like the rest of us poor unwashed masses.
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