Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utcs.toronto.edu!cks
Newsgroups: comp.admin.policy
From: cks@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu (Chris Siebenmann)
Subject: Re: Canceling someone else's article
Message-ID: <1991Jun7.235143.9615@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>
Organization: Ziebmef home away from home
References: <1991May30.181628.2931@tygra.Michigan.COM> <1991Jun1.171636.6232@herald.usask.ca>
Date: 8 Jun 91 03:51:44 GMT
Lines: 27

lowey@herald.usask.ca (Kevin Lowey) writes:
| Similarly, Usenet sometimes is carried over telephone lines, and
| sometimes is carried over lines paid for by NSF, or its equivalents
| in other countries.  Since they pay for the physical wires, they
| have the right to say how those wires are used.  If NSF says they
| don't want to pay for the transfer of X rated images
| (alt.sex.pictures), then it doesn't have to.  So even if Usenet
| policy says that is OK, Usenet might be forced to CHANGE its policy
| to fall in line with the carriers it uses, or risk losing permission
| to use those carriers.

 This is a commonly-held but somewhat incorrect view. Usenet does not
change its rules because some of its links are carried over the
NSFNet; instead, Usenet sites using NSFNet resources to transfer news
must be carefull to make sure they don't violate NSFNet rules when
doing so. Usenet does not bend its rules to adapt to the restricted
rules of some links, or to the restricted laws of some countries that
have Usenet sites in them; that's always the site's business. Of
course, if most of Usenet sites wind up in such a country, or using
links that are so restricted, the net effect may be more or less the
same and over time the "consesus rules" of Usenet change.

--
"Anyone forging articles should be writing news software instead,
 if you get the headers right you're ahead of some implementations.
 Try writing a gateway, that'll test your skills."	- Ed Vielmetti
cks@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu	           ...!{utgpu,utzoo,watmath}!utgpu!cks