Xref: utzoo news.admin:7732 misc.legal:12386 Path: utzoo!censor!dybbuk!yunexus!ists!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!sharkey!math.lsa.umich.edu!emv From: emv@math.lsa.umich.edu (Edward Vielmetti) Newsgroups: news.admin,misc.legal Subject: Re: Usenet and legal liability Message-ID: Date: 22 Nov 89 18:33:07 GMT References: <25683CAB.25106@ateng.com> <10771@max.u.washington.edu> <10814@max.u.washington.edu> Sender: news@math.lsa.umich.edu Followup-To: news.admin,misc.legal Organization: University of Michigan Math Dept., Ann Arbor MI. Lines: 22 In-reply-to: wcn@max.u.washington.edu's message of 21 Nov 89 23:40:56 GMT In article <10814@max.u.washington.edu> wcn@max.u.washington.edu (W C Newell Jr) writes: >People seem to have forgotten the controversy that erupted at Michigan when >some users threatened to sue the University over allegedly racist material on >their local bulletin board. They opted to shut down the board altogether, and >that story (the board's closure, not the debate over its contents) made page 1 >of the NY Times. We have investigated complaints about material posted on our >local system, and much of the legal opinion I cite is derived from my personal >involvement with that process. No, no, no, that's not how I remember it. The "local bulletin board" (meet:students on ubmts.cc.umich.edu) was not shut down. It's still going strong, just as much chatter as before. People have been sensitized to the issue, to be sure. Michigan has a reasonably well thought-out policy on appropriate use of computing facilities, which I can provide to anyone who's interested. --Ed (we call it meet:stupids, now)