Xref: utzoo rec.music.synth:17023 comp.sys.apple2:8313 comp.sys.amiga:71417 comp.sys.mac.misc:5588 comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:3535 misc.legal:22524
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!bionet!arisia!cooper
From: cooper@arisia.Xerox.COM (Martin F N Cooper)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth,comp.sys.apple2,comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,misc.legal
Subject: Re: Freedom of the net
Message-ID: <14101@arisia.Xerox.COM>
Date: 12 Nov 90 04:55:17 GMT
Reply-To: cooper@arisia.UUCP (Martin F N Cooper)
Organization: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
Lines: 31

>is, in a nutshell, 'bow down before the all-powerful companies and pray
>that they won't cut off my net access!'


I didn't give any advice at all.

>True, we will
>lose a small number of people and contacts from this one company.  But
>the company will lose the entire net.  In any sort of loss/gain
>comparison, it seems fairly obvious that it is the company that loses
>more than the net.

That "small number of people" depends on the company we're talking about.
But more importantly, I agree with you that it seems fairly obvious - but
that is to you and me, not to senior management in a large corporation,
who may have completely different views on the subject, if they even know
that Usenet exists.

>This leaves aside the point that I don't think a company would do such a
>thing.

Right now, right here, I wouldn't put too much money on that...

Don't get me wrong - I personally don't have any real concerns about
disseminating information of whatever type via the internet, and I'd
cite the Tienanmen Square events as a great example of how the net can
be used to great global advantage despite the odds - I'm just trying to
make sure that people understand that it could also hurt the net - and
I'm trying to protect my own access while I'm at it... :-)

	Martin.