Xref: utzoo soc.culture.jewish:8558 news.sysadmin:1803 comp.mail.misc:1449 rec.humor.d:1270 news.misc:2239 misc.misc:4075 soc.culture.misc:485 soc.misc:953 comp.mail.uucp:2446 news.admin:4164
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!mailrus!ames!oliveb!sun!cognito!randolph
From: randolph%cognito@Sun.COM (Randolph Fritz)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish,news.sysadmin,comp.mail.misc,rec.humor.d,news.misc,misc.misc,soc.culture.misc,soc.misc,comp.mail.uucp,news.admin
Subject: Re: bigoted racist misuse of email and computer accounts must be dealt with
Summary: Power and information
Message-ID: <80023@sun.uucp>
Date: 3 Dec 88 19:42:46 GMT
References: <10676@ihlpa.ATT.COM> <1548@buengc.BU.EDU> <27015@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: news@sun.uucp
Reply-To: randolph@sun.UUCP (Randolph Fritz)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 16

I also oppose the monitoring and censorship of mail.  Because of the
structure of Usenet, because systems under our control carry the mail,
we have the power to monitor and interfere with with private electronic
correspondence.  The attempt to purify our network of bigotry, however,
can only end by making the net useless for the discussion of bigotry.
Furthermore, having established the power structure necessary to
control the contents of the network, that power structure will go on to
seek greater control.  We will end with a network that expresses only the
ideas accepted by that power structure.

I say that the practice of censorship, for that is what is proposed, is
an abuse of power and I say to hell with it!  If we are to control
traffic on this network, let us control, at most, traffic volume without
regard to contents (as the segregation of talk.* groups enables).

++Randolph Fritz  sun!randolph || randolph@sun.com