Aalice.275 net.news utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ARPAVAX:mhtsa!alice!ark Fri Dec 18 20:18:05 1981 Freedom of the Netnews I can think of several good reasons why the content of netnews should be as close to totally uncensored as possible. Let me first dispose of a non-reason that probably comes frequently to mind: that this is an issue of freedom of the press. It is NOT, because the Government isn't trying to control anything! The important question is whether whoever pays the computer and phone bills has the right to dictate the use of those resources, and the answer there is clearly YES. Let me then say why I think it is in the interests of an employer or other bill-payer to restrict the content of network news as little as possible. First, censorship won't work. For instance, if too many sites start shutting off net.jokes.q, that stuff will start to creep back into other newsgroups, making it harder to control. Trying to control that sort of stuff by fiat just makes the cheating become more inventive. Second, if you leave it alone it will die down. I firmly believe that a major reason pornography is popular is that it is (perceived as being) illegal. If it were merely ignored, I think it would be much less lucrative. Third, you are really shooting at a moving target. I perceive the norms of taste in electronic mail being much different from either speech or paper writing. I also see them changing rapidly. If you react strongly and quickly to every new thing that comes along, how will you react to those you think are really important? And who will believe you after you have repeatedly cried wolf? For now, let me suggest that you should not send anything out by electronic mail that you would be afraid to sign. Andrew Koenig Bell Laboratories Murray Hill NJ ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.