Re: "This post is G-Rated"

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 6:50 PM 1/26/96, Mike McNally wrote:

>The "enforcement" is always a reactive thing.  I don't think you'd get
>far with a parent explaining that the material they consider indecent
>which somehow showed up on alt.kids.only would be dealt with by
>blistering flames.
...
>So you think those who want a "controlled cyberspace" would be happy
>with newsgroups that stay "mostly decent"?  I strongly doubt it, and I
>will also add that such "enforcement" is far, far less effective on
>newsgroups than on mailing lists.

By the way, we should always be ready to would-be censors/moderators of
Usenet that "kid-friendly" alternatives either exist, or could be created
by those interested in screening stuff. What many of us object to is the
notion that legislators in some particular country can cause the 12,000+
Usenet groups, or the accesses via the Net and Web, to be turned into
something safe for all children, or all Muslims, or all women, or all
vegans.

AOL and its ilk are used by parents I know as a "kinder and gentler"
introduction to the Net for their impressionable ankle-biters.

There are a zillion special interest groups that want their members
protected from various kinds of stuff out there in the world. I don't have
to list them here.

We as Cypherpunks should strenuously point out that the speech of adults on
forums like Usenet should not be reduced to the level of what all children
should hear. Nor should we endorse "voluntary self-ratings" proposals, for
the many reasons discussed here recently.

I for one will not slow down my speech, slow down my postings to Usenet, by
carefully reviewing my words to see if they are offensive to children,
their parents, their grandparents, Mormons, Jews, Boy Scouts,
schizophrenics, high-strung neurotics, Muslims, animal rights advocates,
queers, Rosicrucians, persons of color, persons of no color, or persons of
poundage.

Fortunately, the technological trends strongly mitigate against the Net and
the Web ever being controlled by the censors of any one country.

"Not even speed bumps."

--Tim

Boycott espionage-enabled software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1  | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."