1995-11-01 Introduction by moderator: PBS broadcast a show called Frontline across the U.S. on Wednesday evening that had a program on electronic networks, commercialization, and the dangers presented for privacy and community. Here are some comments people sent to cyber-rights and other mailing lists about the show. Andy @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Sender: “W. Curtiss Priest” <•••@••.•••> CITS … Read more…

1995-11-01 Sender: •••@••.••• (Kurt Guntheroth) >Direct democracy will *only* come about in this country at this time as an >intensely manipulative system of using “public opinion” by a social science >elite (i.e. technocrats) to pressure “elected” governments to act. Period. >I remain convinced that the “grassroots” efforts to promote >direct/hyper/participatory democracy will inevitably be hijacked … Read more…

1995-11-01 Sender: “Steve Eppley” <•••@••.•••> [snip] >CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA — October 30, 1995 — Internet Filtering >Systems, Inc. (IFSI) today announced Net Shepherd, the first product >designed to democratically rate and filter World Wide Web sites and >selectively supervise access. [snip] Will this be freeware? If not, I hope that someone has the good will … Read more…

1995-10-31 Sender: “W. Curtiss Priest” <•••@••.•••> CLINTON ATTACKS CONGRESS TELECOM BILL President Clinton has attacked the bill (now in a House-Senate conference committee) that would drastically overhaul the nation’s telecommunications laws and encourage greater competition among local phone, long-distance and cable TV companies. The President objects to provisions that would allow regional Bell companies to … Read more…

1995-10-31 Summary from moderator: Two recent developments in the Clinton Administration will be considered good news by most readers of this list. Another mail message reports criticism of the telecom bill by Clinton. In this one, I’ll summarize a call for privacy that Craig Johnson forwarded to me. A report from the Commerce Department asks … Read more…

1995-10-31 Sender: Mark Stahlman (via RadioMail) <•••@••.•••> Charles (et al): You might as well puke now and get it over with. Maybe it will clear your head. Direct democracy will *only* come about in this country at this time as an intensely manipulative system of using “public opinion” by a social science elite (i.e. technocrats) … Read more…

1995-10-31 Introduction from moderator: Remember our discussion of SurfWatch and Net Nanny several months ago, as a search for alternatives to government censorship? The next message promotes a related solution involving ratings. To get the background (how the whole system is supposed to work) visit the World Wide Web Consortium’s page at http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/PICS/. Andy @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ … Read more…

1995-10-30 Sender: Martin Janzen <•••@••.•••> •••@••.••• writes: >Can anyone help me find an ISP in America that ISN’T a total sellout? Yes: try Community Connexion (http://www.c2.org, or login as “guest”). The network administrator, •••@••.•••, takes privacy _very_ seriously. I understand that you can get anonymous accounts in which even C2 doesn’t know who you are. … Read more…

1995-10-30 Sender: “B.J. Herbison” <•••@••.•••> [I’m a little behind on my reading, but a grep of my unread mail didn’t find any discussion of my main point. B.J.] On Mon, 16 Oct 1995 03:33:27 -0700, “Cyber Rights” <•••@••.•••> wrote: > Sender: LECLERC YVES <•••@••.•••> > > is your understanding of provincial dialect Zulu? And what … Read more…

1995-10-30 Sender: Charles Stewart <•••@••.•••> Cc: To: •••@••.••• Cc: •••@••.••• Subject: Re: Grossman’s Book (The Electronic Republic) I read something by Mr Grossman in the August 29 issue of USA today with almost the exact focus. He mentioned his book in a footnote at the end. I would suggest from what I read that people … Read more…