BBSs under fire! (or on fire, if BATF gets into the act!)

[Stanton McCandlish <anton@hydra.unm.edu>]

I'd like to invite discussion, either private or listwise, on: Why is the govt.
targetting BBSs?

I note Eric S. Raymond accuses the govt and its mouthpieces of using the largely
manufactured horror of 'kiddie porn' as a "fait acompli", to yank the rug from
under our feet when we take exception to the idea that the U.S. Govt. should
have the authority to inspect our private lives and operations. Not to mention
also using the treat of 'terrorism' and 'dangers to national security' et al.
ad nauseum.

I'd like to tell you a short anecdote:
I frequently grep the entire disk system here for accessible .GIF files.
I need them for my BBS, and even though this grepping about hogs CPU time,
it is certainly less bandwidth costly than firing up a full FTP session to 
go hunting for such "warez".  Inevitably, many of these graphics files are
'porno'.  Also inevitably a few are 'illegal' porno, such as that featuring
beastiality and or nude children.  Most of these appear to originate from the
orient and from Europe.  I have no use for such materials, but apparently 
someone does. I did an experiment.  Noting the filenames, I looked about in
alt.binaries.pictures.erotica, and did an xarchie search, and many of these
files are available from US educational institutions, via both FTP archives
(usually in the uploads area -- I am confident that the maintainers of such
sites ditch this stuff in a jiffy.  There are exceptions, however) and 
the UseNet system.

Now, maybe I missed something, but I have yet to see the secret service raid
ftparchive.blah.edu, or UNM where I work, for 'pandering'.  Yet BBSs get
raided for SUSPICION of having such material, and get their equipment con-
fiscated.  I am pissed off enough that I am having a hard time even formulating
my displeasure into a logical post, but here goes anyway:

1) who gave the govt the right to distribute this material, and deny others
to do so (for whatever reason) - these universities ARE part of the govt.
2) why is the govt scapegoating BBSs?  Are we THAT 'dangerous and subversive'?
3) why is it that people in general cannot see this BS for the BS it is?
Is it REALLY so hard to see that "terrorism" and "kiddie porn" are not real
threats, but that stomping all over our privacy rights IS?
4) why is nothing much really being done about these civil rights violations?
The SJG case is a case in point.  EFF did plenty to help out, but where was the
ACLU?  I see lots of NETTERS mad about clipper, but where is the media blitz?
Where are the demonstrations on the White House lawn?  Are the people in this
country really so apathetic?  Where is the outcry over the Waco massacre?
For a govt to willy-nilly burn a bunch of children to death and lie like hell
to the people the whole time, is enough to start a civil war in a lot of 
places, yet here it's just another "oh well".  

Well before I really get lost here, I will just finish up by saying that I
became a BBS system operator with enthusiasm and happiness, and now find my
self embroiled in the fringes of a bitter war, and one which the general 
populace seems 100% ignorant of.  I don't care what Mike Godwin says, the
media DO see BBSs as a threat. I just got word that the article that was 
supposed to be done by a local paper on BBSs in our area was nixed. I don't
like conspiracy theories, but christ, it is almost impossible to get the
media to do anything on the online world that is not negative; the only
VR-oriented movie I have ever seen was a horror film designed to turn 
people OFF the idea (_Lawnmower_Man_), MTV wants to do stories about neo-
nazis using BBS for their goals; the media worked hand in hand with the 
govt in the Waco mess, and now the media are generally silent, even supportive,
about the clipper; I try to do my part in distributing crypto, and get 
legal threats from a govt. contractor...

What gives?  How far is this going to go?
-- 
Testes saxi solidi!  **********************   Podex opacus gravedinosus est!  
Stanton McCandlish,  SysOp:  Noise in the Void Data Center BBS
IndraNet: 369:1/1      FidoNet: 1:301/2      Internet: anton@hydra.unm.edu
Snail: 8020 Central SE #405, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 USA
Data phone: +1-505-246-8515 (24hr, 1200-14400 v32bis, N-8-1)
Vox phone:  +1-505-247-3402 (bps rate varies, depends on if you woke me up...:)