Hacker 2/HACKER2.mdf/cud/cud533a.txt

Text File | 1995-01-03 | 6KB | 105 lines

Date: 5 May 93 03:01:43 CDT
From: Jim Thomas <[e-mail]>
Subject: Intro to CPSR/EFF Electronic "Hate-Crimes" Inquiry Responses

        Introduction to the CPSR and EFF letters responding to
                   electronic "hate crimes" inquiry

A quarter century ago, when hitch-hiking across the country between
the coasts a few times a year, I would stop at a tiny hamlet in
Wyoming (pop: about 90, plus a few dogs and cows) about 90 miles from
nowhere. A small cafe with great hamburgers and a friendly bar (with
even better hamburgers), and maybe sleeping out under the stars if I
wasn't in a hurry.  "Common courtesy" rather than laws and police
enforcement ruled, and even the occasional stranger was treated like
family.  That was the decade of the sixties.

Increased responsibilities and a change in life-style curtailed my
road-bumming in the seventies and 10 years passed before I drove
through that small community again. During that time, nearby
Interstate 80 had been completed, making the town more accessible, and
oil was discovered nearby, turning a tiny community in which everybody
knew each and respected the rights of others, into a chaotic mini-city
of thousands of newcomers. An expanded and professional police force
enforced new laws passed to address the perceived social offenses
caused by the population explosion of mostly young folk attracted to
the oil boom and accompanying enterprises. A formal local government
was created, and it made laws, regulated activitity, and attempted to
accommodate the community to the changes brought by accessibility,
prosperity, and expanding population.

In some ways, the Electronic Community is like that small Wyoming
town. The Internet and its peripheral locales, public access systems,
and BBSes continue to grow as more newcomers enter cyberspace to
settle or simply to visit. The proportion of cyberbozos to decent,
Gopod-respecting citizens is quite small, but the expanding population
means that we reach a critical mass despite the small percentage. A
"jerk-ratio" of only half-percentage point in a population of 10,000
produces only 50 of 'em, which is fairly easily tolerated. The same
proportion in a population of 10 million dramatically increases their
visibility and influence.

Most of the time, bozos are simply nuisances who are quick to flame
with extreme invective or who simply attempt to articulate barely
coherent but rather wild ideas or opinions. However, sometimes they
use electronic media to harass others, to promote particularly
distasteful ideas (such as anti-semitism or white supremacy), or to
engage in what some consider "obscene" communication of a sexually
explicit nature.

Like that small Wyoming town, an increase in population subverts
informal methods of encouraging common decency, and also challenges
conventional prevalent notions of what constitutes "decency." One
person's hate-group may be another person's noble band of freedom
fighters.  Although most people would probably agree that
"hate-groups" in particular engage in the expression of unpalatable
and distasteful ideas, there is no consensus about what should be
done, especially in on-line situations. Should certain types of speech
be restricted by university or sysop policies? Should government enact
legislation to reduce certain types of noxious, but currently legal,
expressions?  Should a BBS that advocates "lynch the niggers, gas the
kikes" be subject to laws curtailing the use of certain words or
ideas?  Should BBSes or ftp sites be prohibited by law or policy from
making accessible the literature of Thunder, the Bloody Afterbirth
writings, anarchist g-files, or adult gifs perceived by anti-porn
advocates as "violence against women?"

Cyberspace is like that small Wyoming town in several ways.  First,
there is really no great increase in the proportion of anti-social
behavior; the dramatic and rapid increase in the population simply
makes them more visible. Second, the tendency toward quick fixes
through repression--the "tough town marshall" syndrome--seems an
acceptable tradeoff to those willing to sacrifice a few rights for a
calm social order. Third, when informal means of encouraging courtesy
break down, it takes a while before alternative means replace them.
Finally, as a historical point, expansion of a territory is often
accompanied by chaos, and noxious expressions can be seen as simply a
normal phase in the growth of the cyber community.

We live in a period in which freedom of expression is under attack by
diverse groups on all sides of the political spectrum.  "Speech codes"
at universities, "hate-speech/hate-crime" laws enacted in well-meaning
but ill-considered ways, and pressures from both the left and right to
curtail noxious expressions all threaten fundamental First Amendment
principles.  So, it's with considerable concern that we note the
inquiry into "hate crimes" in electronic media begun by the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).  Despite a
few organizations such as CPSR and EFF, there is no well-organized
constituency for electronic freedoms that compares to the conventional
social world. As a consequence, there seems a greater danger of
government restrictions through legislation or policy on freedom of
expression in cyberspace.  Both CPSR and the EFF have responded to the
NTIA's call for comments with strong letters in support of freedom of
expression.  CuD moderators agree absolutely and unequivocally that
First Amendment protections should be protected--in fact,
strengthened--in cyberspace.  Any attempts to curtail freedom of
expression in electronic media affect BBSes, net-surfers, and others,
and should be an issue of concern to us all.

We comment CPSR and the EFF for their responses, and re-affirm our own
view that freedom of expression is a fundamental and inalienable
right, and not one to be restricted simply because some moral
entrepreneurs find the speech of others to be distasteful.

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