Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site eosp1.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!princeton!astrovax!fisher!eosp1!robison
From: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison)
Newsgroups: net.news,net.legal
Subject: Re: Freedom of speech and the net
Message-ID: <1263@eosp1.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Nov-84 12:55:44 EST
Article-I.D.: eosp1.1263
Posted: Tue Nov 20 12:55:44 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 21-Nov-84 01:08:50 EST
References: <201@looking.UUCP> <7@cmu-cs-k.ARPA> <> <1842@nsc.UUCP> <475@amdahl.UUCP> <517@amdahl.UUCP>
Reply-To: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison)
Organization: Exxon Office Systems, Princeton
Lines: 42
Xref: princeton net.news:413 net.legal:208
Summary: 

In article <517@amdahl.UUCP> gam@amdahl.UUCP (Gordon A. Moffett) writes:

>OK, I relent and agree, we cannot answer this question now.  My opinion
>is that corporations have the right control their employees' access to
>USENET as they can control any other computing resource.

The more general case is that companies have a right to view
employees as their representatives to the world, and to mediate
their behavior when using any company facilities or representing the
company.  The relationship between Universities and students or
faculty does not fit this model well, and so complicates the issue,
but even for Universities and their non-faculty employees, in general,
the model holds true.

Companies don't give employees time during work hours to do whatever
they want, regardless of how the outside world views it;  they don't
have to give their employees access to company equipment to use for
personal reasons.  Newspapers don't allow their employees to publish
any news stories or opinion that they feel like publishing.  Etcetera.

The Unix net is partly supported by government money.  This might make
a difference to the right of system owners to control access to the
net, but it is not a clear right, as some writers on this net have
alleged; it's tough law that has yet to be fought in the courts.
[In contrast, regarding lab equipment that's partly supported by
government money, can students use it any way they want, or does the
University get to control it?  Can students publish studies based
on use of this equipment in any journal they want, or is access to
report results restricted?  Can students demand the free right to
use any goverment-purchased hardware to form a communications system?]

System owners have an obvious alternative if forced to give
unrestricted access to the net; they don't have to provide ANY
financial support to the net.  The computers and phone lines can be
used for other things.  Therefore it's pretty much a no-win battle to
fight for unrestricted access.

Can't we settle for remarkably inexpensive, and remarkably unrestricted
access for SLIGHTLY responsible people, such as we have now?

  - Toby Robison (not Robinson!)
  {allegra, decvax!ittvax, fisher, princeton}!eosp1!robison