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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!princeton!astrovax!fisher!eosp1!robison
From: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison)
Newsgroups: net.news,net.ai,net.legal
Subject: Re: Software to screen future net news.
Message-ID: <1326@eosp1.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 8-Jan-85 12:15:51 EST
Article-I.D.: eosp1.1326
Posted: Tue Jan  8 12:15:51 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Jan-85 05:38:05 EST
References: <494@vortex.UUCP> <32@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Reply-To: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison)
Organization: Exxon Office Systems, Princeton
Lines: 61
Xref: watmath net.news:2927 net.ai:2452 net.legal:1245
Summary: 

I've received some private mail with suggested ways
to trick a software moderator.  Based upon this I
am getting MORE hopeful that software moderation
can really be done.  Maybe we don't even need
sophisticated AI software to do it.

The following argument has some unexpected curveballs
in it so please follow carefully.  We have two
pre-requisites:

(1) The software moderator (I'll call it "sofref")
is a CONVENIENCE for people who want to avoid human
moderation.  It can be very restrictive.  If you
submit mail that doesn't follow its rules, you
simply have to accept human moderation.  Failure
to follow sofref's rules doesn't cause you to get
censored, just to be delayed.  Some perfectly
sensible types of mail could will be flunked by
sofref.  It doesn't have to accept all types of
OK mail.

(2) Sofref tries to accept material that is not
libellous.  If you make your pseudo-libellous
remarks sufficiently cryptic, or well-hidden,
THEY ARE NOT LIBELLOUS.  There is an enormous
body of law devoted to failed legal actions in which
printed matter avoided libel by thinly disguising
its intent.

Sofref can accept mail provided it consists only
of words known to it (except for the signature
of the sender).  To play it safe, it can flunk
obscenities and aggressive words. (NOTE AGAIN,
THIS DOES NOT MEAN SUCH MAIL WILL BE CENSORED
BY COMPUTER, BUT ONLY THAT A HUMAN MODERATOR
WILL DECIDE WHETHER IT IS ACTIONABLE OR
INAPPROPRIATE TO THE NET.)

People have suggested fooling sofref by mispelling
people's names, e.g.: rreeaaggaaxnx.  But sofref
does not have to accept words it does not recognize.

Several people have suggested tricking sofref by
including vertical messages, or collections of
letters that spell out cursewords pictographically.
But sofref can flunk ALL pictures, and it can
randomly rejustify all paragraphs to ruin
vertical tricks.  (If you need your message to be
sent without re-justification, send it to the
human moderator; this is not a new problem,
telegrams used to be universally "shaped" by
the telegraph company.)

There may still be ways to sneak a curseword past
sofref, BUT A SINGLE OBSCENITY CDOES NOT MAKE
WRITING ACTIONABLE!
In order to be libellous, one must say something
in a number of words, and say it pretty clearly.

  - Toby Robison (not Robinson!)
  {allegra, decvax!ittvax, fisher, princeton}!eosp1!robison