From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!utah-cs!sask!derek Newsgroups: net.news Title: Beware the coming of NET WARS Article-I.D.: sask.208 Posted: Mon Feb 7 07:20:31 1983 Received: Tue Feb 8 04:34:22 1983 I really like Usenet. It gives us all a forum to discuss almost everything under the sun with our peers. There are a few problems. Since we are all equal, no one can tell anyone else what to do. While this is good for the most part, it does create some petty fighting among us. Imagine, now in this electronic age it is possible to make sworn enemies without ever laying eyes upon them. In particular, the debate over which groups should and should not exist. Recently there was a discussion about net.gdead and whether it should be terminated or moved to net.music.gdead. A note just came to me saying that it was removed by watarts!usenet after I had seen at least 4 requests to retain it in its present form. *sigh* I would like to propose a form of central control. WAIT, before you start flaming please hear me out. In this country, we pride ourselves on democracy. I believe that this is also the custom in the United States of America too. Why don't we elect a panel from among ourselves to decide upon such issues. The head of the panel we could call a Prime Minister, or a President if you wish. This panel could decide upon which groups should be here and which should not. They could hear the proposals for new groups and make a decision. It would then be up to the president to turn the plan to action and create the newsgroup. This panel would have power. It would be given to them by we the people. If we all decide to go ahead with this I propose the following procedure. o create a group of 12 people spread out as remotely as possible o everyone who wished to vote would register with each one o prior to voting, the list of registered voters would be posted to the net. Possible bogus voters would be spotted at this time. o all registered voters would then cast their ballots for their candidate(s) o the results are tallied and our panel comes into existence. I would recommend that the panel consist of 12 'good men tried and true' and women too! The period of office would be one year at which time the panel's final duty would be to hold the next election. This panel could officiate at the birds of a feather sessions at Usenet, could be responsible for issuing letters of reprimand to netnews readers who fail to follow our code of conduct (the netnews etiquette which we all follow). What do you think? I think you should post your answers rather than mail me direct - especially if they are personal attacks. I have submitted this in good faith, hoping to prevent the coming of NET WARS. Derek Andrew U of Saskatchewan