NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #16/NN_1992_16.iso/spool/alt/comp/acadfre/talk/2414

Internet Message Format | 1992-07-28 | 5.7 KB

Xref: sparky alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk:2414 comp.org.eff.talk:4922 comp.admin.policy:927 alt.censorship:6389 soc.college:3497
Newsgroups: alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk,comp.org.eff.talk,comp.admin.policy,alt.censorship,soc.college
Path: sparky!uunet!caen!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!eff!kadie
From: [e-mail] (Carl M. Kadie)
Subject: Abstract of CAF-News 02.29
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Originator: [e-mail]
Sender: [e-mail] (NNTP News Poster)
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Organization: The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 20:43:49 GMT
Lines: 135

This is an abstract for the most recent "Computers and Academic
Freedom News" (CAF-News). Information about CAF-News follows the
abstract. The full CAF-News is available via anonymous ftp or by
email. For ftp access, do an anonymous ftp to ftp.eff.org
(192.88.144.4). Get file "pub/academic/news/cafv02n29".
The full CAF-News is also available via email. Send email to
[e-mail]. Include the line:

send caf-news cafv02n29

--- begin abstract ---
[Week ending 21st June, 1992

========================== KEY ================================
The words after the numbers are a short PARAPHRASES of the
articles, or QUOTES from them, NOT AN OBJECTIVE SUMMARY and
not necessarily my opinion.
===============================================================

[#28 is in production]

Notes 1 to 3 concern how universal the right to freedom of speech
should be - in particular whether it should be allowed to "fascists"
and "holocaust revisionists".

1. "Freedom of expression isn't a luxury to be denied until we reach a
perfect society; it is instead our best [way] of perfecting (or at
least improving) society."
    <[e-mail]>

2. Censorship is not the best way to combat the irresponsible and
untrue statements made by holocaust revisionists. Intelligent
refutation is far more effective - although the nature of the
statements themselves is as damning as any counter-argument.
    <[e-mail]>

3. "What good is fighting for ideals if you destroy those ideals in
the fight? If your idea of a "perfect" world doesn't include freedom
of expression I want no part of it... If we want the network to be
treated as a common carrier, then at least for pay services [we] have
no right to censor based on content alone."
    <[e-mail]>


Notes 4 to 6 discuss how users should deal with being offended while
using the Internet, and how system administrators should respond to
users who can't deal with it.

4. A guide to dealing with offensive or abusive email and news
messages, with the emphasis being on tolerance, kill files and mail
filters.
   <[e-mail]>

5. The "Standard Manager's Reply" (Revision A), to be sent to users
complaining about the content of the e-mail or newsgroup posting of a
subscriber to the manager's system, espouses the delights of freedom
of expression, clear thinking, and kill files.
    <[e-mail]>

6. Comments on and criticisms of the "Standard Manager's Reply".
    <![e-mail]>


Notes 7 and 8 concern the rights of system administrators to access
users' accounts.

7. "You are given an account with the understanding that you will not
use it to attempt to crack the system. But if you use that account to
learn the passwords of other users, then you are abusing the trust
placed in you by the system administrator, and he can remove your
access for it."
    <[e-mail]>

8. "The reasoning was something like the computer was like a hotel and
the account a room in it.  The files were like drawers or coatracks.
We had the right to enter and look at anything as we owned the
'premises'."
    <[e-mail]>


Notes 9 to 11, although unrelated, each address the issues of free
speech and censorship.

9. The New York Times of 6/10/92 reported that a Williams College
student has been subpoenaed after refusing refusing to talk with
Secret Service agents about a computer message he had written which
contained a "death threat" against George Bush.
    <[e-mail]>

10. As reported in the University of Toronto _Bulletin_, that
university is not planning to intercept or censor any of the files
available on the Internet that may contain violent pornographic
material.
    <[e-mail]>

11. "I do _not_ want to restrict anybody's right to post or read
whatever they wish, nor am I trying to accommodate or compromise with
those who do.  I just want _for myself_ some additional means for
selecting what I want to read."
    <[e-mail]>



- Elizabeth]

--- end   abstract ---

CAF-News is a weekly digest of notes from CAF-talk.

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Disclaimer: This CAF-News abstract was compiled by a guest editor or a
regular editor (Paul Joslin, Elizabeth M. Reid, Adam C. Gross, Mark C.
Sheehan or Carl M. Kadie). It is not an EFF publication. The views an
editor expresses and editorial decisions he or she makes are his or
her own.

--
Carl Kadie -- I do not represent EFF; this is just me.
 =[e-mail], [e-mail] =