Legal issues of banning

[ntran@acceltech.com (Ninh Tran)]

Dear admins and members of the VNSA forum,

Without discussing the contents issue regarding the violations of the   
forum rules, I'm concerned with the legality of the recent bannings,   
specially in the context of the laws of the host country in which the   
matters are being conducted, in this case, the laws of the US. My   
concerns regard the following issues:

1. Whether VNSA is considered a private medium?

2. Can a forum operating on a state-subsidized facility (the University   
of Washington) disregard the laws of the state, and of the US?

3. By the international nature of the Internet, which country has   
jurisdiction over matters of concern.

I'm by no means a legal expert. Just a suggestion for a well-thought out   
debate. I don't think there are precedents in these issues.