[KLUG Advocacy] Here's a Frightening One: Michigan to Outlaw VPNs?

[Jon Smitley]

I, also, am not a lawyer.  But my POV on this is that if you are  
knowingly misleading the telecommunications companies, then their are  
now legal ramifications and not just the wrath of the telecommunication  
companies.  I use NAT/MASQ (as you put it) on my home network and at  
where I work, but I am also purchasing a business package that allows  
me to have up to 5 computers on a single IP to the outside world.   
Seeing that I'm not misleading anybody about what may or may not be  
happening at my address, the use of NAT/MASQ is moot.

On Monday, March 31, 2003, at 03:26  AM, Andrew Thompson wrote:
>

> The Slashdot poster is taking this
> to mean that it would outlaw such things as NAT/MASQ and VPN's,  
> although
> to be honest, I can't quite see it managing this except in the broadest
> terms. From the look of it, if this does outlaw VPN's, it might outlaw
> dialup ISP's and corporate intranets as well...
>
> I'm not a lawyer, but anyone who is or has the patience for it can  
> check
> out the law itself at:
>
> http://www.michiganlegislature.org/ 
> mileg.asp?page=getObject&objName=mcl-750-540c-amended
>
> It appears there are a couple of related laws to watch out for as well.
> Freedom to Tinker (http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/) links to them  
> from
> its main page. Look for 'Super-DMCA Already Passed in Michigan' under
> March 29, 2003.
>

Jon Smitley
Minding of Madness