![handle is hein.journals/vuwlrwp1 and id is 1 raw text is: LIABILITY OF INTERNET SERVICE
PROVIDERS FOR THIRD PARTY
CONTENT
Judit Bayer*
I INTRODUCTION
A The Main Function of ISPs
This research focuses on the legal status of internet service providers. Operating the network
that is commonly called the internet requires the cooperation of several different intermediary
actors. Internet service providers (ISPs) play a crucial role in this process. They provide access to
the World Wide Web, and allow users to store and publish content. Finally, one could say that ISPs
establish the connection between people and content on the internet. They connect people with the
physical network, which makes them the most important and obvious focal point of Internet
control. 1
ISPs provide not only one type of service, but a multitude of services. For practical reasons, I
focus on the four most basic activities. The first and perhaps most essential activity is providing
access to the internet for users. This creates the fundamental connection between a person and the
internet, allowing them to both download and upload any content. The second most characteristic
service is providing hosting services for providers of content. This is one step beyond providing
access only, because by this an ISP accommodates its server to the subscriber not only for
temporary traffic, but for a more or less constant storage of their personal content. While the first
service could be compared to the telephone service, the second is unique in its nature. Most often it
has been compared to the distributors' activity.2 This service raises the most legal issues, although
Dr Judth Bayer, Internet NZ Senior Research Fellow in Cyberlaw, based at Victoria University of
Wellington 2006. 1 would like to express my special thanks to those colleagues who have helped my work.
Among them I am especially thankful to Susy Frankel, Dean Knight, Ian Macduff, Nicole Moreham, Steven
Price, Katrine Evans, Lindy Siegert, Judge David Harvey, and the all members of Intemet NZ.
I Jack Goldsmith and Timothy Wu Digital Borders - National Boundaries Have Survived in the Virtual
World - and Allowed National Laws to Exert Control over the Internet [2006] Legal Aff 40, 6.
2 Ronald J Mann & Jane K Winn Electronic Commerce Aspen Law New York 2002 114. See also Zeran v
America Online. Inc (1997) 958 F Supp 1124 (ED Va) [Zeran No 1]; (1997) 129 F 3d 327 (4h Cir) [Zeran](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/vuwlrwp1&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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