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[ Prev | Next | Index ] Wed Feb 21 23:15:45 MST 1996 : caferick@cruzio.com,
Santa Cruz, CA USa
Independence
Richard Lingua
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So, it╣s a matter of freedom of speech. It╣s about the ability to
express yourself any way you want. Well, maybe. More likely, a better
term would be independence. It╣s Washington╣s birthday on the 22nd.
One of the leaders who fought for the value of independence. Someone
who, among many there have been, thought that independence was worth
dying for, whatever their reasons.
I cherish that independence. That independency allows me to learn
about every subject imaginable on the net. It allows me to communicate
with the community that╣s there. And I╣m doing it for very little
money. My local Internet Service provider will allow me to post a 10MB
page for only $10 a month. How many people can I reach by phone or by
mail for only $10 a month? Can I communicate uncensored anywhere else
for that price? I realize all these answers are obvious. They belong
to the same Q&A that Internet pros, │newbies▓ and observers have been
debating all along.
Let me bring this to a more personal level. In an hour, I╣ve checked
the web sites of my favorite authors. These sites are most often
posted by other loving devotees of their work. I can read their
insights, their words of wisdom, their ideas without publisher or
bookstore as a medium. My only obligation is the one I owe to whoever
puts up the page, at their own time and expense, because they believe
as I do. In the same hour, I╣ve crossed the world to a web-site in
France that has a virtual tour of the Louvre. I also checked to see
where I can find the best price on a Mac (my preferred platform). I
looked to see what people in my area have used my local provider to
post their personal web pages. And, in doing so, found a former
co-worker I╣d lost contact with some time ago.
Is pornography an issue? Well, there╣s a rub. On the web, do I look
for pornography/erotica/smut/sex/adult entertainment? Yeah. So what?
It╣s none of your business if I╣m in the Louvre or someone's bedroom.
If I'm invited in, I have free will. I can go or not as I please. I
have a choice and if I'm embarrassed I can leave. I promise you I see
way more women in suggestive clothing and compromising positions in a
walk past the magazine aisle at Super Crown than on a Yahoo search. I
see far more personal indignity, exhibitionism, cruelty, │perversion▓,
unfair and false objectification of men and women, and acts of
questionable morality on television at any time of day or night then I
ever saw at any │adult-oriented▓ web-site.
And I am angry.....
I gave money to a family of three squatting next to shopping cart,
wrapped in blankets, and sitting under an awning during a rainstorm
two nights ago. I looked at them and I all could think about was that
my government was wasting time and tax money on the Telecommunications
Act? Did that rain-soaked family even know what │telecommunications▓
meant?
But, I stated earlier, that I felt that this was more of an
independence issue than a freedom of speech issue. The best example is
this. This is the first night in weeks that I've been able to cruise
the net at leisure. I've been wanting to see how things are going
since the passage of the Act. I came across the 24 Hours for Democracy
project at 9.30 PM telling me that I had 21/2 hours to get my own
message of protest ready for posting. I made it in time. The Internet
gave me the ability to make my contribution independent of any rally,
any mailings or phone calls, or any demonstration. It required no
financial obligation, no conflict with my job, and no journeys to
places I could not go to. In essence, I was mobilized within half an
hour. That╣s independence. And that, is very threatening.
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[Image] caferick@cruzio.com