Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!uhura.cc.rochester.edu!rochester!cornell!wayner From: wayner@fulla.cs.cornell.edu (Peter Wayner) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Lotus Market Place Message-ID: <48683@cornell.UUCP> Date: 21 Nov 90 01:42:27 GMT References: Sender: nobody@cornell.UUCP Distribution: comp.org.eff.talk Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept. Ithaca NY Lines: 46 jmc@Gang-of-Four.stanford.edu (John McCarthy) writes: >.........(plenty of text saying that laws against databases are >worse than junkmail.) Let me suggest that the people who have >already posted restriction proposals on this newsgroup post impact >statements for them. I think I argued that it might be interesting to prohibit any commercial venture that targetted less than some threshold, say 100 people. It's an okay idea and I don't think it would lead to the SS (funny initials) busting down any doors. Is it better than banning databases, sure. I think it tries to draw the line between what is junkmail and what is invading a specific person's privacy. I've since learned that all of this has been hashed out before in the legal world in a case, which I think was titled "Bowers v. Post Office" in which the Supremes came down heavily in favor of a man's right to be left alone. I think this has lead to the current leave-me-alone mailing lists. I will try to dredge up a better synopsis of the case after Thanksgiving. It would be a great time to review the past before chattering away about the future. Also Time has an article on JunkMail this week. Any readers out there? One interesting point is that I discovered this fact while reading an article about Child Pornography and CompuServe circa 1985. It seems way back then (Kids today...), Pedarasts were exchange hints, tricks and anecdotes on Compuserve and this REALLY upset plenty of people. There was even a bill introduced in the Senate which specifically dealt with using computers to aid in Child Pornography. I'm not sure if it was passed. This may be some of the reason that Prodigy is so nervous about their national network. If anyone has any first hand (or preferably second hand) information about this section of our national, electronic history, it might be a good time to review it. So, I apologize for leaving so many pointers and so many, "I think"s in this piece. I'll try to pin them down after cutting the Turkey. Chow, y'all, Peter Peter Wayner Department of Computer Science Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY 14850 EMail:wayner@cs.cornell.edu Office: 607-255-9202 or 255-1008 Home: 116 Oak Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: 607-277-6678