Re: The Esther Dyson Flap

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

At 1:40 PM 9/3/96, Chuck Thompson wrote:

>"as a citizen"  You seem to be qualifying your statement.  Do you mean that
>she should have her right to free speech taken or stifled as chairwoman?  At

No. I said nothing of the kind. When people speak of "don't you believe in
her right to free speech?," I try to point out that this such a "right of
free speech" is not the issue at hand.


>the very least, it appears that several are demanding that she espouse a
>particular point of view because she is the chairwoman of an organization
>which, on the whole, is assumed to have a different viewpoint.  It seems to

No, I said nothing like this. She is obviously free to speak anything she
wishes, as a citizen or as head of an organization. It is up to members
(actually: _Board_ members, as EFF is not a grassroots, member-voting
organization) to decide if her support for restricting anonymous speech is
consistent with EFF directions.

However, as I said, if the top spokesman at EFF gives indication of having
views pretty much 180 degrees out of phase with our views, it's likely
we'll speak up and oppose her (or him), and perhaps even suggest that other
EFF board members look into the matter. "Free speech" is not even an issue.

>>Well, many of us did not pounce. Speaking for myself, I strongly suspected
>>that the newspaper article had summarized a more-nuanced point and had
>>effectively taken just a convenient sound bite.
>
>And you are to be commended for not doing so.  In fact, your response to my
>message is exactly what I would expect.. a well-put statement of a contrary
>opinion.

Thanks.

--Tim May

We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I 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
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