Xref: utzoo news.misc:1607 rec.mag:72
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!mit-vax!mit-eddie!rutgers!bellcore!tness7!tness1!flatline!erict
From: erict@flatline.UUCP (j eric townsend)
Newsgroups: news.misc,rec.mag
Subject: Re: Playboy Censored in England (was: News slanted by censorship?)
Summary: Bzzt.
Message-ID: <1059@flatline.UUCP>
Date: 7 Jul 88 01:22:12 GMT
References: <386@blic.BLI.COM> <113@dcs.UUCP> <3939@pasteur.Berkeley.Edu> <528@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk>
Organization: a flat near the Montrose, Houston, Tx.
Lines: 40

In article <528@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk>, flash@ee.qmc.ac.uk (Flash Sheridan) writes:
> In article <1011@flatline.UUCP> erict@flatline.UUCP (j eric townsend) writes:
> >In article <519@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk>, flash@qmc-cs.UUCP writes:
> >> I write:
> >> >Freedom of the press *started* in Britain.  I think that their
> >> >(British and west european) libel and invasion of privacy laws are
> >> >much stricter, creating an illusion of censorship.
> >> You obviously haven't followed the Spycatcher affair.
> >Blech.  Just prior-censorship instead of post.  At least
> >the Spycatcher stuff got to America.  If it was the other way around,
> >the U.S. would be suing to have copies in *all* countries returned and
> >destroyed.

> Wrong.  Ex CIA agents have to get their stuff cleared to publish it;

Technically, yes.  However, if an exCIA person *really* wanted to release
a book, they could.  Just get a publisher willing to take the risk.

A small house, possibly Lampoonics Press (is that their *real* name? :-)
or someone that would put up a chunk of $$$ for a 50-100K copy run.

> frequently stuff gets taken out.  Wright's lawyer made a similar offer to

Recently this was brought to court.  The CIA was forced to explain
to the court *what* they wanted removed, and *why*.  They only got
to keep out about 1/4-1/3 of what they wanted keep out.  I think
it was a good precident.
(This is in my notes if I need to look it up.)


Take a look at the Pentagon Papers incident.  The NYT went ahead
and printed.  A restraining order followed, but they NYT eventually
won and the series of articles ran.
With prior censorship, I doubt the story would have ever made it out....


-- 
Skate UNIX or go home, boogie boy...
J. Eric Townsend ->uunet!nuchat!flatline!erict smail:511Parker#2,Hstn,Tx,77007
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