NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #1/NN_1993_1.iso/spool/alt/comp/acadfre/talk/3885

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Path: sparky!uunet!think.com!spool.mu.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!eff!kadie
From: [e-mail] (Carl M. Kadie)
Subject: Abstract of CAF-News 02.61
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Originator: [e-mail]
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Organization: The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 05:03:56 GMT
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[See the end of this article for information about obtaining the full
CAF-News electronically and about CAF-News in general.]

Topics discussed in CAF-News 02.61:

   1-4    continue the discussion of issues surrounding alleged child
               pornography posted by a Cornell student to the Usenet
   5-8    discuss when/if it's appropriate for a sysadmin or superuser to
               cancel someone else's articles
   9-12   report computers-and-academic-freedom issues at the American
               Library Association, University of Illinois, the Akron BBS,
               and Fresno State University

Abstract of CAF-News 02.61:
[Week ending December 6, 1992

========================== KEY ================================
The words after the numbers are a short PARAPHRASE of the
article, NOT AN OBJECTIVE SUMMARY and not necessarily my opinion.
===============================================================

  [We desperately need new guest (or regular) editors, for information
   send email to [e-mail].  - Carl]

Notes 1-4 continue the discussion of issues surrounding alleged child
pornography posted by a Cornell student to the Usenet.

1.  "The copy I have of the law regarding child pornography goes on for 3
*pages* regarding the recordkeeping requirements." Namely, "you have to keep
records on *all* models [... and these] have to include the legal name and
*any other names EVER used by the person in the picture. And these records
must be available to the goverment for examination at reasonable hours and
times.  And you must have a statement included with the distributed item(s)
telling where the records are and certifying that all people were of legal
age."
    <[e-mail]>

2.  "I have spoken with some of those responsible for the restriction of the
alt.*.erotica newsgroups here at Cornell. I don't believe that the _only_
reason these groups were cut off was because of legal investigation. I know
that if I was responsible for the newsstand here, and was aware that it was
being directly abused (illegally so), that the easiest and most effective way
to deal with the problem is to simply cut off the newsgroup. Cornell is in
NO WAY obligated to provide those newsgroups to the Cornell community, in the
same way that it's not obligated to carry 'Playboy' in the circulars at the
undergrad library."
    <[e-mail]>

3.  "You may have inside information, but the only public statment was that
a.b.p.e was cut simply because a single article in it was being
investigated." Now it's true that "Cornell is not obliged to respect academic
freedom. [...] But if the university desires to follow academic freedom then
it must refrain from removing resources at the merest hint of questionable
legality. Cornell is not obligated to subscribe to Playboy. But if they do
have a subscription, and there is a protest against it, academic freedom
forbids them to cancel the subscription."
    <[e-mail]>

4.  Well, then, what *can* a university do to discourage students from
storing/displaying objectionable pictures?  "A rather low quota, plus a disk
that's continuously on the brink of overflowing," says one sysadmin.  "You
forgot the result from a 'du' listing on all student accounts, sorted by
size, printed out regularly, stuck on the wall at the terminal room
entrance," writes another.  "Peer pressure does wonders sometimes."
    <[e-mail]>

Notes 5-8 discuss when/if it's appropriate for a sysadmin or superuser to
cancel someone else's articles.

5.  "By screening articles and newsgroups the University may *increase* its
liability. (Aside: Elimination of liability should not be the University's
only goal.)"
    <[e-mail]>

6.  But how about when: "[1] Someone forges a posting in your name.
(This has happened to me.) [2] You run an anonymous contact service
and one of its users asks you to cancel a posting.  (This has happened
to me.) [3] You are the newsadmin for your site, and one of your users
posts copyrighted software to alt.sources.  (This has happened to
me.)"
    <[e-mail]>

7.  Or: "1) An excessively large article was posted to a discussion group
(usually uuencoded GIFs or the like). 2) A site (usually fidonet) starts
reposting old articles with new IDs. 3) A forged sendsys comes out."
    <[e-mail]>

8.  Perhaps these are valid exceptions, but really, "the question of
canceling other people's articles boils down to a question of
ownership and authority.  By the time something has propagated it is
outside of the sphere of authority of anyone but the individual admins
of the systems the article is stored on.  [... In] almost all other
cases I would consider someone canceling articles as a violation of
*my* domain of authority: my newsspool.  If you cancel an article that
you consider illegal, for example, it makes me want to say: 'Hey, what
are you doing?  Do you have a warrant?  Who gave you the authority to
mess with data stored on my disks?'  I mean, how would you feel if you
had some pirated software on your PC, and your neighbor were to just
walk into your home and start erasing it?  I believe that in the the
USA at least that's even more illegal than software piracy."
    <[e-mail]>

Notes 9-12 report computers-and-academic-freedom issues at the American
Library Association, University of Illinois, the Akron BBS, and Fresno State
University.

9.  The American Library Assn.'s "Library Bill of Rights" condemns the
exclusion of materials "because of the origin, background, or views of those
contributing to their creation[.]"  Is this the same ALA that approved
"boycotts of library materials published in Namibia and South Africa in 1987,
on the grounds that it would 'undermine the struggle for human rights in
South Africa'?"  And which felt that American publishers shouldn't ship books
to those two countries for the same reason?
    <[e-mail]>

10.  Meanwhile at the University of Illinois, "Two local attorneys
discussed their experiences with the University's discipline system
and its inequities Monday at the Student Government Association's task
force on the student discipline system.  One of the attorneys said
that "the procedures have basically stayed the same" for seven or
eight years but recently "they started limiting what an attorney could
do" at a discipline hearing.  The attorney suspect it's because six
years ago a discipline committee made a decision before hearing the
case, and "attorneys were very active in exposing the fix."
    <[e-mail]>

11.  "You may already know about the BBS 'sting' six months ago in Munroe
Falls, OH for "disseminating matter harmful to juveniles." Those charges were
dropped for lack of evidence. Now a trial date of 1/4/93 has been set after
new felony charges were filed, although the pretrial hearing revealed no
proof that *any* illegal content ever went out over the BBS, nor was *any*
found on it."  (A summary of the Akron BBS case follows.)
    <[e-mail]>

12.  Here's the computer use policy for Fresno State University, which insists
that all users learn to perform "password maintenance and file and directory
protection measures" on their accounts.  Not that this will secure their
accounts, since "Department faculty and staff may access others' files when
necessary for the maintenance of the computing facilities" (in fact, nowhere
in this policy does FSU mention *its* responsibility to the overall security
of its systems).  Oh, and "electronic mail and other electronic communication,
will not be used to annoy others."  (Just to be sure, FSU will punish any and
all "obscene, abusive, or threatening messages.")
    <[e-mail]>

- Aaron Barnhart]


About CAF-News:

The abstract is for the most recent "Computers and Academic Freedom News"
(CAF-News). 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/cafv02n61".
The full CAF-News is also available via email. Send email to
[e-mail]. Include the line:

send caf-news cafv02n61


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

CAF-News is available as newsgroup alt.comp.acad-freedom.news or via
email. If you read newsgroups but your site doesn't get
alt.comp.acad-freedom.news, (politely) ask your sys admin to
subscribe. For info on email delivery, send email to
[e-mail]. Include the line

send acad-freedom caf

Back issues of CAF-News are available via anonymous ftp or via email.
Ftp to ftp.eff.org. The directory is pub/academic/news. For
information about email access to the archive, send an email note to
[e-mail]. Include the lines:

send acad-freedom README
help
index

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, John F. Nixon, Aaron Barnhart, 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] =