NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/alt/comp/acadfre/talk/2778

Internet Message Format | 1992-09-14 | 27.9 KB

Xref: sparky alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk:2778 alt.censorship:7499
Newsgroups: alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk,alt.censorship
Path: sparky!uunet!caen!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!eff!kadie
From: [e-mail] (Carl M. Kadie)
Subject: Need *NEW* material for "Banned Computer Material 1992"
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Originator: [e-mail]
Sender: [e-mail] (NNTP News Poster)
Nntp-Posting-Host: eff.org
Organization: The Electronic Frontier Foundation
References: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 00:42:23 GMT
Lines: 704

Please help me create a 1992 Banned Computer Material List.

Looking through the CAF-News Abstract I found incidents (bans or
challenges) at these places:

  US: Iowa State, U of Nebraska at L, Ball State University, Carnegie
  Mellon U., U Wyoming, North Dakota, U. of Southern California, Boston
  University, Virginia PEN, Virginia Tech, Princeton, Williams
  College, Berkeley

  Canada: U of Manitoba, U of Toronoto, Wilfrid Laurier University

  Europe: United Kingtom, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Turkey

If you are familiar these incidents, please review the enclosed
paraphrases and see if they cover the incident(s).  (The paraphrases
will be the basis for descriptions in the Banned List.)

Also, if you know of incidents that I've missed, please send me email.
(I know I'm missing some of Canadian schools.)

If don't know of any incidents, you will be able to read-all-about-it
soon when the new Banned list is finished.

- Carl

+ United States

++ Iowa State

=================
news/cafv02n30: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.30

Notes 2-3 discuss the events at Iowa State University in which the
Usenet group rec.arts.erotica was banned and in which a student's
computer access was revoked after he redistributed articles from that
group - there is, however, a happy ending to the story.

2. "When Iowa State University restricted alt.sex it violated the
principles of academic freedom. When it punished a student for
exercising his Constitutional right to free expression in a University
forum and imposed that punishment summarily in violation of that
student's Constitutional right to due process, it violated the law."

=================
news/cafv02n30: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.30

Notes 2-3 discuss the events at Iowa State University in which the
Usenet group rec.arts.erotica was banned and in which a student's
computer access was revoked after he redistributed articles from that
group - there is, however, a happy ending to the story.

3. From the student who had his account closed: "I have my account
back."

=================
news/cafv02n23: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.23

Notes 4-5 are about computer policy at the University of Illinois
and at Iowa State University.

5. "The due process protection of the policy is good. The privacy
protection is unclear. Free expression protection is poor. (The policy
imposes speech restrictions on email and other computer media.
Specifically, it prohibits rude expression and any expression of a
political nature. In my opinion, these speech restrictions violate
academic freedom and the law.)"

=================
news/cafv02n11: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.11

Notes 1-4 discuss newsgroup removals rationalized by creative
interpretations of law. Sites around the world have found this an
effective way to ban almost any topic, for example, war, drugs, gay
rights, crime, rape, abortion, and sex (including recovery from sexual
abuse and United Press International stories mentioning sex).

3. This is a parody of the Iowa State University policy that bans
discussions of sex (and previously drugs). It shows what the policy
might say if it were honest. It starts "We, a handful of individuals
in the Iowa State University Computation Center, have imposed a policy
on the distribution of Usenet newsgroups. ...  The purpose of this
statement is to provide an after-the-fact justification of a decision
that we made without looking at the academic freedom issues."

=================
news/cafv02n11: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.11

Note 10 discusses the history of altnet, the set of "alt" groups.

10. Contrary to the 'history' given in the Iowa State University
policy, the alt groups were not created by a 'collective group of
Usenet "news administrators"' as a place for dangerous topics. In
fact, the alt groups were created to fight the suppression of the
collective group.

=================
news/cafv02n08: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.08

Notes 4-5 discuss academic freedom and the right of sites to limit
access to netnews.

4. At Iowa State University, by default, a machine does not receive
the newsgroups alt.sex.*, alt.drugs, alt.psychoactives.  The head of
the department where the machines are located can request that the
machines have access to the omitted groups.  Students and staff are
attempting to change the policy.

=================
news/cafv02n30: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.30

Note 4-5 discuss Iowa State University's and the University of Nebraska
at Lincoln's rationalizations for censorship.

4. In reply to a previous assertion that "Iowa State and U. of
Nebraska are using the possibilities of NSF intervention as reason to
censor newsgroups.  Neither institutions are citing any other
university, state, or federal regulations for their actions."  ISU
admins have cited Chapter 728, [Iowa's Obscenity Law] though it
exempts libraries and educational institutions.

=================
news/cafv02n30: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.30

Notes 2-3 discuss the events at Iowa State University in which the
Usenet group rec.arts.erotica was banned and in which a student's
computer access was revoked after he redistributed articles from that
group - there is, however, a happy ending to the story.

3. From the student who had his account closed: "I have my account
back."

++ U of Nebraska at L

=================
news/cafv02n30: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.30

Note 4-5 discuss Iowa State University's and the University of Nebraska
at Lincoln's rationalizations for censorship.

5. UNL has said that had they continued to supply the "pornographic"
alt. hierarchy and someone had complained to the federal government,
UNL would have been required to prove that the groups met the criteria
of the NSFNET backbone service's acceptable use policy, or risk losing
NSFNET access. This is based on a misunderstanding of the NSFNET's
powers and of their policies.

=================
news/cafv02n23: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.23

Notes 1-3 are about Netnews removals at the University of
Nebraska, Lincoln and in Germany.

1. [A UNL user:] On March 2nd, the alt groups were eliminated by UNL's
Computing Resource Center (CRC).  Although the reason given was lack
of resources, the content of the groups played a major part.  The
chairman of the UNL Academic Senate Computational Services and
Facilities Committee felt in hindsight that the committee did not have
all the facts when they recommended a limited set of news feeds.  On
April 6th the UNL Academic Senate Executive Committee voted to request
restoration of the majority of the alt.* groups.

=================
news/cafv02n23: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.23

Notes 1-3 are about Netnews removals at the University of
Nebraska, Lincoln and in Germany.

2. [_The Daily Nebraskan_:] "Pornography was a factor in the UNL
Computing Resource Center's decision to stop supplying and entire
hierarchy of USENET news groups to UNL computers, the CRC director
said Thursday."

=================
news/cafv02n23: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.23

Note 6 is the Nebraska University Students for Electronic Freedom.

6. This is the Statement of Purpose from the Nebraska University
Students for Electronic Freedom. The group promotes academic freedom,
works to protect privacy, acts as "watch dog" group for university
administration, educates the user community, and strives to broaden
access to electronic communication systems.

=================
news/cafv02n22: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.22

Notes 1-3 are about the U. of Nebraska at Lincoln's ban of
all alt.* newsgroups.

1. For anyone who has been following the alt.* controversy at UNL,
the following article appeared on page one of _The Daily Nebraskan_,
the student newspaper of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, on
Tuesday, March 7, 1992. _UNL loses `alt' computer files_ by Mike
Lewis staff reporter. Used with permission of the Daily Nebraskan.

=================
news/cafv02n22: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.22

Notes 1-3 are about the U. of Nebraska at Lincoln's ban of
all alt.* newsgroups.

2. [A UNL alum:] "The reasons given for the decision are so
transparent as to be internationally embarrassing to the University."
"There may be newsgroups that you wish not to take. If that is the
case, be honest about it." "If you are in need of additional
resources, they should be requested [...]"

=================
news/cafv02n23: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.23

Notes 1-3 are about Netnews removals at the University of
Nebraska, Lincoln and in Germany.

1. [A UNL user:] On March 2nd, the alt groups were eliminated by UNL's
Computing Resource Center (CRC).  Although the reason given was lack
of resources, the content of the groups played a major part.  The
chairman of the UNL Academic Senate Computational Services and
Facilities Committee felt in hindsight that the committee did not have
all the facts when they recommended a limited set of news feeds.  On
April 6th the UNL Academic Senate Executive Committee voted to request
restoration of the majority of the alt.* groups.

=================
news/cafv02n23: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.23

Note 6 is the Nebraska University Students for Electronic Freedom.

6. This is the Statement of Purpose from the Nebraska University
Students for Electronic Freedom. The group promotes academic freedom,
works to protect privacy, acts as "watch dog" group for university
administration, educates the user community, and strives to broaden
access to electronic communication systems.

++ Ball State University

=================
news/cafv02n11: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.11

Notes 5-7 are about privacy.

5. A user on this system was apparently running a password cracking
program.  An administer searched my files and found I had a copy of
the newest version of Crack.  I have legitimate reasons for having
this program.  I have received mail from the Chairman of the
Department "inviting" me to discuss my account privileges. "It really
bothers me that I'm going to get in a lot of trouble (probably anyway)
just for the mere possession of a program."

++ CMU

=================
news/cafv02n11: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.11

Notes 1-4 discuss newsgroup removals rationalized by creative
interpretations of law. Sites around the world have found this an
effective way to ban almost any topic, for example, war, drugs, gay
rights, crime, rape, abortion, and sex (including recovery from sexual
abuse and United Press International stories mentioning sex).

4. Carnegie Mellon University promotes self-censorship by its threats
to investigate of Eric Jefferson on charges of sexual harassment
unless he stops writing public articles that some find offensive.

=================
news/cafv02n08: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.08

Notes 1-3 regard a recent controversy at Carnegie Mellon
University involving issues of sexual harassment and freedom of
speech.

1. As described in the Carnegie Mellon student newspaper 'The Tartan',
student Eric Jefferson has had sexual harassment charges filed
against him because of his postings to a CMU bulletin board for
the Women's Center.

++ U Wyoming
Notes 6-9 discuss the recent removal of IRC software from users'
accounts at the University of Wyoming.

6. (A student:) I compiled an IRC client and master on a computer at U
Wyoming.  I provided access to this software to other users.  Upon
receiving complaints, the system administrators removed access for all
users who had used IRC.  In order to get their accounts back, the
users had to remove all IRC software from their accounts and agree not
to use IRC on the computer.  "After I agreed to do this, my (Cluster)
account was reinabled and I was told 2 hours later it would be
searched for IRC files. If any were ever found again, I would be
disusered without hope for reinstatement."
    <3803321809011992_A11466_POSSE_11614C9F3200*@mrgate.uwyo.edu>

++ North Dakota

=================
news/cafv02n16: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.16

Note 1 is a policy docoument from North Dakota State University:

1. [NDSU POLICY ON MISUSE OF COMPUTER FACILITIES] Responsible computer
use means files, passwords, and output are private; no offensive
material shall be entered or sent; no unauthorized copies shall be
made; no unauthorized commercial use shall be made; violators shall
be disciplined.

++ University of Southern California

=================
news/cafv02n15: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.15

Notes 7-9 are about the law and freedom of speech (and association).

8. A student at the University of Southern California asks for help in
filing a 'hate speech' complaint against a fellow student. You have no
grounds for filing. "State universities have no authority (i.e. it is
illegal for them) to punish students for hate speech. The way to fight
such bad speech is with good speech." [Editor's note: USC is not a
state university.]

++ Boston University

=================
news/cafv02n35: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.35

Notes 6-8 are about the limits of free expression in .plan files

6.  "I recently put the lyrics to "Cop Killer" by Ice-T in my .plan file so
that it shows up when someone else does "finger [e-mail]".
Two people have complained to my department's chair... .He asked
me informally to remove it.  I told him I would not do so voluntarily."

++ Virginia PEN

=================
policies/virginia.pen.edu.critique
=================
Critique of Acceptable Use Policy Virginia's Public Edcuation Network (PEN).

Points out factual errors. Says that speech restrictions are unconstitutional.

++ Virginia Tech

=================
news/cafv02n20: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.20

Notes 4-6 are critiques of computer policies at Virginia Tech and
Princeton.

4. "The [Virginia Tech] policy shows good user participation and due
process. Privacy could be improved by detailing the procedure by which
searches are authorized. Freedom of expression could be improved by
removing vague speech restrictions."

++ Princeton

=================
news/cafv02n20: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.20

Notes 4-6 are critiques of computer policies at Virginia Tech and
Princeton.

6. Princeton bans computer speech that would be protected by the
Constitution if it were a public university. The good news, from my
point of view, is that it explicitly treats computer speech like
traditional speech.

++ Williams College

=================
news/cafv02n29: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.29

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.

++ Berkeley

=================
news/cafv02n07: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.07

Note 5 is an article from _The Jewish Advocate_, a Boston weekly,
concerning anti-Semitism on the Internet.

5.  A Berkeley graduate student was "stunned to discover" anti-Semitic
material on the Internet.  No specific legal action is planned since
the university's policies on computer expression are general. A
spokesman for the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith said, "We
don't advocate censorship.  We encourage Internet subscribers to use
their subscription power, their keyboard power, to register their own
objections to this perversion of computer technology."

+ Canada

=================
cases/globe-and-mail
=================
An article from the Toronto _Globe and Mail_, Monday, July 20, 1992.
Headline: Computers graphic when it comes to porn
Subheadline: NETWORK SEX: Is increasingly explicit material on some computer
bulletin boards free speech, or obscenity?

=================
news/cafv02n34: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.34

Notes 1-3 are about a broadcast on CITY-TV (an independent Toronto television
station) concerning pornography on Usenet.

1. This is a transcript of a portion of a CITY-TV broadcast from 6
July.  A reporter and a student (?) explore the alt.sex newsgroup. A
system administrator (?) states the University is not taking the
position of censor, and does not control the information an individual
may seek out. One female states that this material is harmful to
women, and a different female says that, although offensive, nothing
should be done to restrict the information.

=================
news/cafv02n30: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.30

Notes 7-8 discuss censorship of the alt.sex.bondage newsgroup in the
light of recent events in Canada.

7. "The following is a transcription of a report broadcast on CBC
Radio's news program "The World at Six," aired 27 May 92 and monitored
on 9755 KHz at 2300 UTC. All spelling and punctuation has been added,
and may be incorrect."

=================
news/cafv02n37: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.37

Notes 4 to 6 are part of a debate on censorship which has arisen in
the wake of the refusal of some Canadian universities to carry
alt.sex.* groups, and the publication of an article entitled
"Computers Graphic When it Comes to Porn" in the Canadian newspaper
_The Globe and Mail_.

6. This article, which seeks to correct the view of the Internet as a
public medium for the dissemination of "sleazy" material, has been
sent to the editor of the _Globe & Mail_.

=================
news/cafv02n26: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.26

Notes 1-8 (all the articles in this issue) discuss censorship of the
alt.sex.bondage newsgroup in the light of recent events in Canada.

2. In a telephone conversation, an Inspector of the Winnepeg police
gave it as his opinion that if material from the alt.sex.bondage
newsgroups were distributed to the Canadian public, the distributor
could be charged, as could the originator.

++ U of Manitoba

=================
news/cafv02n30: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.30

Notes 7-8 discuss censorship of the alt.sex.bondage newsgroup in the
light of recent events in Canada.

8. In a letter to the administrators at the University of Manitoba I
said, among other things, that "there are those who feel very strongly
that a University should never tell its people what they can't read."

++ U. of Toronto

=================
news/cafv02n33: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.33

Notes 1-4 are about new computer polices covering everything from
email privacy to the content of newsgroups.

4. 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.

++ Wilfrid Laurier University

=================
news/cafv02n40: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.40

Note 11 contains an article by Jim Boyce which appeared on July 14th
in the Wilfrid Laurier University's student newspaper, the Cord.  It
is posted with his permission.

11. After a student brought the matter to the attention of the
newspaper, questions have been raised at WLU about a program used by
Computing Services to find "profane" file names.

+ Europe



=================
news/cafv02n33: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.33

Notes 1-4 are about new computer polices covering everything from
email privacy to the content of newsgroups.

3. (A system administrator:) The list of newsgroups we cannot carry
   [on the United Kingdom's UKnet Backbone] includes alt.sex*,
   alt.drugs, alt.evil, alt.tasteless and rec.arts.erotica.

=================
news/cafv02n30: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.30

Note 6 discusses the distribution of "alt" groups in the UK.

6. Usenet relies on the goodwill of those operating the servers which
distribute the news. "In the UK, the great majority of these systems
are operated by academic institutions, who seem to have decided not to
forward the 'alt.*' hierarchy, in particular, and a number of other
groups which are either judged to be 'unsuitable', or clearly only
relevant to, say, the US."

=================
news/cafv02n30: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.30

Note 6 discusses the distribution of "alt" groups in the UK.

6. Usenet relies on the goodwill of those operating the servers which
distribute the news. "In the UK, the great majority of these systems
are operated by academic institutions, who seem to have decided not to
forward the 'alt.*' hierarchy, in particular, and a number of other
groups which are either judged to be 'unsuitable', or clearly only
relevant to, say, the US."

++ Germany

=================
news/cafv02n23: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.23

Notes 1-3 are about Netnews removals at the University of
Nebraska, Lincoln and in Germany.

3. A story in the German paper "EMMA" resulted in the banning of the
"sex" news groups at several universities. Among the groups banned was
"alt.sexual.abuse.recovery."

++ Switzerland

=================
news/cafv02n22: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.22

Note 3 is about Switzerland's SWITCH (an academic networking
consortium).

3. "In addition to banning some usenet newsgroups, SWITCH is also blocking
packets to the local eunet chapter (chuug). We have to route most
packets from Zurich to Geneva and back to Zurich. Others go as far as
Amsterdam, and, yes, still others go to the USA and come back (hee
hee). SWITCH is blocking nntp, telnet and ftp to local sites connected
to eunet."

=================
news/cafv02n11: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.11

Notes 1-4 discuss newsgroup removals rationalized by creative
interpretations of law. Sites around the world have found this an
effective way to ban almost any topic, for example, war, drugs, gay
rights, crime, rape, abortion, and sex (including recovery from sexual
abuse and United Press International stories mentioning sex).

1. SWITCH, the federal institution which provides the network
connections between Swiss universities, has decided to refuse to carry
certain Usenet newsgroups on the grounds that they *might* be illegal
under Swiss law. Newsgroups banned include alt.drugs,
alt.politics.homosexuality, clari.news.terrorism.

=================
news/cafv02n13: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.13

Note 1 is about censorship and SWITCH (in Switzerland -cmk).

1. The majority does not have the right to restrict or censor
information desired by the minority, even if that material is
offensive. In this regard, "Switch is like a library, worse than that
switch is not only censoring their library, they also put up
roadblocks and refuse people access to their libraries." Would-be
censors should have to "_PROVE_ beyond reasonable doubt in a just
court that something is harming others (and arguably that they don't
wish to be harmed)" before that something is restricted or censored.

++ Ireland

=================
news/cafv02n11: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.11

Notes 1-4 discuss newsgroup removals rationalized by creative
interpretations of law. Sites around the world have found this an
effective way to ban almost any topic, for example, war, drugs, gay
rights, crime, rape, abortion, and sex (including recovery from sexual
abuse and United Press International stories mentioning sex).

2. (A person in Ireland:) "The computer/censorship issue related to
the fact that only crosspostings to the group _talk.abortion_ appear
here."  If a posting to such a group had information on how to procure
an abortion, are we any more liable than a library with an English
telephone directory which has the phone number of an abortion clinic?

++ Turkey

=================
news/cafv02n21: Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
=================
An article from the Computers and Academic Freedom News 02.21

Notes 5 and 6 concern issues of relevance to the situation at ISU. The
first offers a critique of an article in the Winnipeg Free Press which
"exposed" the alt.sex.* Usenet hierarchy's availability at the
University of Manitoba. The second discusses the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln's decision to stop supplying the entire alt.
hierarchy.

7. "The METU policy provides no due process protection and bans much
speech."

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