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From: jjewett@math.lsa.umich.edu (Jim Jewett)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Missing mission
Message-ID: <1990Aug26.210652.27614@math.lsa.umich.edu>
Date: 26 Aug 90 21:06:52 GMT
References: <11446@medusa.cs.purdue.edu> <1990Aug26.063940.29357@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu>
Sender: usenet@math.lsa.umich.edu
Reply-To: jjewett@math.lsa.umich.edu (Jim Jewett)
Organization: University of Michigan, Department of Mathematics
Lines: 39

In article <1990Aug26.063940.29357@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu>,
cos@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Ofer Inbar) writes:
|> In article <11446@medusa.cs.purdue.edu> spaf@uther.cs.purdue.edu
(Gene Spafford) writes:
...
|> >suppose the material is slanderous, or violates a company's trade
|> >secrets, or spreads a virus, or breeches national defense secrets?
|> >How about cases where someone is just unceasingly rude?  There are
|> >social and legal concerns here on both sides, and focusing on only one
|> >side will keep everyone from being supportive of the effort.
|> 
|> Well, what is illegal is already illegal.  Slander, for example, is
|> illegal.  No reason for the EFF to try to make it such, when it
|> already is. 

It hasn't really sunk into the culture yet though.  Forgeries seem almost
a game -- should the EFF promote good net-citizen classes as part of
either a civics or an introductory computer class?
...
|> >material into inappropriate forums for others to stumble across?  Do
|> >they have the right to forge their name, and violate accepted
|> >protocols to make their statements that almost no one wants to read?
|> >What and who exactly is it that needs the protection?
|> 
|> Does a radio station have the right to broadcast opinions that almost
|> no one wants to hear?  Does anyone have the right to violate accepted
|> protocols, on the Net or off it?

It is illegal to break in on a regulated frequency; I don't have a right
to broadcast over the frequency of a local station.
So what about moderated newsgroups?  Normally, only the moderators post.
But in alt.hackers, a qualification for posting is bypassing this security.
If alt.hackers didn't exist, how many more BIFFs would there be showing off?
Should this be illegal?

-jJ

jjewett@math.lsa.umich.edu       Take only memories.
Jewett@ub.cc.umich.edu           Leave not even footprints.