Xref: utzoo comp.misc:11432 comp.org.eff.talk:1453 alt.censorship:1232 Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.org.eff.talk,alt.censorship Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!maytag!looking!brad From: brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) Subject: Re: Prodigy Special Offer hits my mailbox... Organization: Looking Glass Software Ltd. Date: Tue, 12 Feb 91 22:31:47 GMT Message-ID: <1991Feb12.223147.24215@looking.on.ca> References: <1991Feb6.141621.9765@javelin.es.com> <1991Feb11.061828.20234@looking.on.ca> The problem is that discussion of whether Prodigy is a good deal or not isn't truly germane to this forum. If you think Prodigy is a bad deal, do not subscribe. It really is as simple as that. That Prodigy heavily controls message content is not censorship! Prodigy considers that a feature -- they spend a great deal of money paying people to do it. It is no more censorship than it is censorship for the letters page editor of the New York Times to select and trim letters for publication on that page. If you consider this a *bad* feature, then don't subscribe. If Prodigy misrepresented the e-mail charge, or misrepresented anything else about its service, that's something germane to the EFF, although misrepresentation of charges is plain ordinary consumer law, and nothing particularly new takes place. There is a spectrum of discussions that can exist online, ranging from alt.sex to completely edited publications. Some people like the complete post-anything world of an alt group, but some people *hate* it. I happen to like things about the whole range, enjoying alt groups, comp groups and moderated groups like comp.risks and rec.humor.funny (:-). It is no sin to try to create anything along this spectrum if you are honest about it. Prodigy has been mostly honest, but they have had their faults in this. When I talk to online world Gurus, I find they have no confusion about what Prodigy was offering. So Prodigy clearly did get the message out about what they are, but also it clearly did not get understood by some users. I am not sure who to blame for that. Prodigy should have the freedom to set up whatever service they wish, and the EFF should work to give them that freedom. Let the users decide if the service is worth anything. -- Brad Templeton, ClariNet Communications Corp. -- Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473