Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!midway!tartarus.uchicago.edu!faustus From: faustus@tartarus.uchicago.edu (Kurt Ackermann) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Judge for Yourself Message-ID: Date: 24 Oct 90 15:49:53 GMT References: <1084@lsicom2.UU.NET> <6432@hub.ucsb.edu> <1990Oct04.001804.18056@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu> <1990Oct20.224407.23367@world.std.com> Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator) Distribution: na Organization: University of Chicago Lines: 84 In <1990Oct20.224407.23367@world.std.com> lains@world.std.com (Layne L Ainsworth) writes: >In article <1990Oct04.001804.18056@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu> zippy@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Patrick Tufts) writes: >>In article <6432@hub.ucsb.edu> 6600kntp@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Kent Perrier) writes: >>>Gee, the FCC sounds just like Hitlers SS. How do they define obsene(sp?)? >>While schools restrict their library collections, they >>are limited by 'the standards of the community'. A book that is >>banned in one town can be accepted in another. >> >>Closer to the point of BBS's, I believe there is a law that prohibits >>obscene traffic over phone lines. Now (assuming I'm right about this >>law existing), the problem is, who defines obscene? >> >>We do. >> >>No, you say? The Government does? Who elected them? >> >>--Pat >Well, there is a problem with this 'community standards' thing. The >constitution was written (more precisely, the bill of rights), to protect >people *from* the government, knowing that even a freely elected govern- >ment would be prone to the same problems as any other. Especially when >the majority of people would vote for repression of a small group. Especially when that "majority" is actually a minority of the eligible voting population of the United States. A highly motivated and well- organized minority (say, about 20% of the _eligible_ voters) could elect nearly anyone ON THEIR OWN, not to mention their ability to swing the balance of power from one candidate to another (for which an even smaller number is required). >The >supremacy of the rights of the individual of [over?] those of the state was >thought to be of utmost importance. That's why they were so careful to insulate >as much as possible the supreme court (and thus the constitution) from >the political process. It is very dangerous to allow a locality to decide >issues that are best answered by the constitution and the supreme court. Agreed. "Mobocracy" leads to lynchings and laws that change with the whims of public opinion rather than with the changes in the beliefs and values of the populace (a much deeper, substantial, and slower change). The Constitution also insulates us from ourselves (and each other), in forcing us to take time (which might promote careful, rational thought about an issue) to make such changes in our laws. While 'community standards' are an important aspect of our society, they need not become a part of the legal system. There are other ways to bring about change in the system (imagine if 2 Live Crew held a concert and nobody went??), and local customs, beliefs, traditions and values have a place in our society, but we need not make them into laws. >In short, an answer to the question, 'Who elected them?': We did, and that >is what I am worried about. Until we can get a more significant proportion of our citizens to vote in the elections, we will continue to suffer from time to time under the will of a highly-motivated minority of citizens who constitute a majority of the voters in an election. >-- > Layne Ainsworth Kurt Ackermann (as an afterthought: Imagine if ALL ELIGIBLE NET-FOLK voted in the next election for a presidential candidate who had a proven track record of support for computer networks [i.e, he/she is a highly desirable candidate in our collective opinion]. My understanding is that almost 15 million people use the Net in the US, of whom I would guess some 70% might be eligible voters. 10 million voices, in light of the current apathy among the rest of the voting public, would certainly cause politicos to stand up and take notice...) ------------------------------------------------------------ Kurt Ackermann "Grey, dear friend, are all your theories; --Mephisto. in