Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!ncar!ames!lll-tis!lll-winken!tekbspa!optilink!cramer From: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) Newsgroups: news.misc Subject: Re: BBS bad publicity Re: Jonathan Richmond vs. USENET Message-ID: <700@optilink.UUCP> Date: 8 Dec 88 22:22:55 GMT References: <33065@bbn.COM> <4355@pbhyf.PacBell.COM> <5999@hoptoad.uucp> <1942@sigma.UUCP> Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA Lines: 27 In article <1942@sigma.UUCP>, bill@sigma.UUCP (William Swan) writes: > In article <5999@hoptoad.uucp> tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney) writes: > >The press already has most people who've heard of bulletin boards > >convinced that only white supremacists and child molesters use them; > > *Who* is disseminating this info? > > My wife has even heard the latter ("it's how they get in touch with > other, and share ideas and methods, etc."). She won't say where she > heard it... I've seen both claims reported in the popular press. In the case of neo-Nazi groups, they mentioned a specific BBS in Montana which was providing a way for them to distribute their ideas into Canada, which at the time wasn't allowing free expression of offensive (and I mean "offensive" -- to me as well) ideas. The claims about child molesters have been much more vague. I've seen "50-100 different BBS" claimed in newspaper articles, but remember that much of what appears as "news" in newspapers is a rewritten press release. I recently challenged Newsweek to give a source for an article claiming that $25 handguns were avaiable on the streets of New York City, and they finally wrote me a letter admitting they didn't have a source for it, but they were sure it was true anyway. -- Clayton E. Cramer {pixar,tekbspa}!optilin!cramer (Note new path!)