cr> re2: the Wiesenthal statement

1996-01-13

Richard Moore

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Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996
Sender: Mark McFadden <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: cr> re: the Wiesenthal statement

~--<snip of quoted material>--~
>The term censor, it seems to me, isn't appropriate.  ISPs, like anybody
>else, do have the right to discriminate, except against protected classes.
>Nazis and Klanners aren't protected classes.
~--<snip of quoted material>--~

I agree that the Klan, Nazis, or any other hate group are not and should not
be protected classes, but to "discriminate" against such groups, although I
despise them, is still censorship.

>The end result, at most, would be that hate groups would have to go to some
>additional trouble in order to have net access.  That's hardly censorship,
>and wouldn't exactly be the end of the world as we know it.

With all due respect, in my view, this is not a proper stance.

>>"Internet providers have a First Amendment right and a moral
>>obligation not to provide these groups with a platform for their
>>destructive propa-ganda, '' Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the center's
>>associate dean, wrote in the letter that was sent to Internet service
>>providers.

This is true. Certainly Rabbi Cooper has the right to say this. Yet for ISPs
to take this stance sets a dangerous standard.

Loving the freedom to express,

Mark McFadden
Private Industry Council
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Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996
Sender: Mark McFadden <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: cr> re: the Wiesenthal statement

Craig A. Johnson wrote:
> The only solution to hate speech is more speech.

Agreed!!!!!

Mark McFadden

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Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996
Sender: "David E. Anderson" <•••@••.•••>
Subject: re: the Wiesenthal statement


This is a dangerous path to follow.  Joel Rosenber (•••@••.•••)
downplays the pitfalls too readily when he said:

"The end result, at most, would be that hate groups would have to go to some
additional trouble in order to have net access.  That's hardly censorship,
and wouldn't exactly be the end of the world as we know it."

We're better off following the common carrier model.  If Nazis mailbomb me,
then I should sue them for harrassment, not their ISP.  Just consider what
Joel's policy would mean if the ISP were the Christian Coalition...

Dave

--
"I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and
democracy - but that could change." -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/22/89

David E. Anderson/New Media Support, Worldwide Support, Oracle Corporation

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Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996
Sender: Jason Wehling <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: cr> re: the Wiesenthal statement

> The end result, at most, would be that hate groups would have to go to some
> additional trouble in order to have net access.  That's hardly censorship,
> and wouldn't exactly be the end of the world as we know it.

My worries about all this are that the "end result" will be a little more
insidious. Yes, your senario sounds like a plausable result, but how do
they know that a particular person or group is a hate group? In other
words, I think the implication of this will result in the *monitoring* of
speech. How else will you be able to determine what speech is okay and
what is not? This implication I find totally unacceptable.

___________________________________________________________________________
"We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege
and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom             Jason Wehling
is slavery and brutality."                        Email: <•••@••.•••>
-- Mikhail Bakunin.                     Home: http://www.ee.pdx.edu/~jason/
___________________________________________________________________________

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 ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
 Posted by Richard K. Moore (•••@••.•••) Wexford, Ireland
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 Materials may be reposted in their entirety for non-commercial use.
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