Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!rpi!tale
From: tale@pawl.rpi.edu (David C Lawrence)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: warning: scumbags using usenet for pyramid schemes
Message-ID: <256C7976.372@rpi.edu>
Date: 23 Nov 89 23:12:53 GMT
References: <15389@vlsisj.VLSI.COM> <667@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM>
	<1989Nov19.004703.16570@rpi.edu> <1229@svx.SV.DG.COM>
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
Lines: 58

In <1229@svx.SV.DG.COM> gary@dgcad.SV.DG.COM (Gary Bridgewater) writes:
Gary> Let me see if I understand you. A burglar breaks into your
Gary> house, rifles your valubles and in a burst of chutzpah sits down
Gary> at your table and makes himself a snack.  You return and find
Gary> him so engaged. Your reaction will be to wax reflective on
Gary> Voltaire's _Essay_on_Tolerence_ because, after all, he'd already
Gary> done all the illegal stuff before you got there? What's your
Gary> address?

Well, you don't understand me.  You seem to have come up with this
notion that all laws are the same; at least, for the purposes of this
analogy.

Someone sent me a very informative letter regarding the legality of
all this.  I mailed him a message back a few days ago asking to cite
him but I haven't received anything back, but I just want to put this
whole thing behind now.

In spite of his very informative letter, I'm not _sure_.  What the
other person, who started this scheme, said makes sense too.  I don't
know the law and if I did I probably wouldn't agree with it anyway.
My own paranoia, however, is cause enough for me to just get rid of
the blasted thing.  I don't believe it is a matter of protection via
the First Amendment, though.  In a way, I am really surprised about
how hostile this pyramid letter issue has made some people.  Well, not
really "surprised", but something still seems psychologically fascinating
about it.

In <1989Nov20.163715.5628@aqdata.uucp> sullivan@aqdata.uucp (Michael Sullivan):
Michael> This is a pyramid scheme involving money and it is most
Michael> certainly illegal.

Okay, I have some questions still though.  I won't argue about them,
I'd just like to have some answers.  Why is it illegal?  (For the
hundredth time, I am _not_ supporting them.  I don't like them either.
There are a lot of things that I don't like that I don't think should
be illegal for people to do.)  Who ends up getting punished, and how?
The person who started it, the people who knowingly propogated it,
and/or anyone that has such a letter in their possesion?

In <882@jantor.UUCP> barry@jantor.UUCP (Barry Dunlap KA5KTH) writes:
Barry> In paul's article he is talking about protecting the rights of
Barry> the first admenment.  For paul i ask, [...]

Actually, Paul's mention of the First Amendment was in reply to the
first article I sent, which he interpreted as my saying that this was
a free speech issue.  He was rebutting a misunderstanding about my
article, not trying to bring the pyramid letter under the protection
of the Bill of Rights.

Speaking of that United States of American (well, people bitch about
just saying "American".  What am I supposed to say?) document, this
pyramid letter and the discussion here in news.groups has not been
limited to usa.  What do other nations have to say about it?

Dave
-- 
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