Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!maverick.ksu.ksu.edu!hoss!hoss.unl.edu!riddle From: riddle@hoss.unl.edu (Michael H. Riddle) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Censorship on the USENET Message-ID: <1990Oct21.141502.26557@hoss.unl.edu> Date: 21 Oct 90 14:15:02 GMT References: Sender: news@hoss.unl.edu (Network News Administer) Distribution: comp Organization: University of Nebraska, Computing Resource Center Lines: 59 In rmz@ifi.uio.no (Bjoern Remseth) writes: >Maybe this is the right newsgroup for this discussion? I don't know. >Anyway, here we go: Seems like a good group to start with, anyway! >Here at the University of Oslo some very influential people are trying >to shut down alt.sex and a number of other newsgroups they and their >friends find offensive. Actually they have already closed down about >ten groups (including the entire alt.sex. hierarchy) for all of the >university except for the Comp. Sci. dept. From what I've heard >they have also expressed a wish to stop distribution of these groups >in all of Norway. What _really_ makes me worried is that these people >may carry enough political clout to make this happen. >Have any of you experienced something similar? Do you have a >suggestion about how this should be counterattacked? Do you know >about a newsgroup that is more appropriate for this question? Answers >to any or all of these questions are very much welcome. I'm sure I'll create some controversy, but it seems to be that what I call "Murphy's Golden Rule" might apply here: "The one with the gold makes the rules." What I mean is that the people paying the bill ought to have the right to say how their resources are being used. While there are many good purposes served by a free and open exchange of ideas on a wide variety of subjects, I personally have some doubts that public funding, either from my country or yours, ought to be involved in some of the discussions we find on the net. Particulary if, for example, the funding agency thought it was underwriting discussions of theoretical physics, it might be upset with some justification to find out its money was supporting alt.sex.*. By the same token, I'm granted access for educational purposes relating to telecommunications law. This particular newsgroup is quite valid. I'm not so sure how valid my access to *.unix.* might be, except that once I'm on the net the incremental cost is relatively low. What you probably need to do, in a university setting, is get the faculty involved. At least at this school, they would be highly disturbed at the idea of anyone telling them what is or isn't valid for their departments. The Norwegian equivalent of "freedom of expression," to use our United States terms, would be a good idea, and perhaps the "human rights" aspects of the UN Declaration of Rights. However, my guess is they could make the withdrawal stick unless someone else is willing to fund it. There is still at least a little distinction between withdrawal of financial support and censorship. -- riddle@hoss.unl.edu | University of Nebraska riddle@crchpux.unl.edu | College of Law mike.riddle@f27.n285.z1.fidonet.org | Lincoln, Nebraska, USA