Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site pyramid.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!decwrl!pyramid!csg
From: csg@pyramid.UUCP (Carl S. Gutekunst)
Newsgroups: net.news.group
Subject: Re: Proposal for starting net.peace
Message-ID: <10@pyramid.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 30-Aug-85 20:58:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyramid.10
Posted: Fri Aug 30 20:58:36 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 1-Sep-85 06:01:18 EDT
References: <195@kepler.UUCP>
Reply-To: csg@pyramid.UUCP (Carl S. Gutekunst)
Followup-To: net.news.group
Organization: Pyramid Technology, Mt. View, CA
Lines: 49
Keywords: Peace, politics, new group
Summary: As described, net.peace is not appropriate

In article <195@kepler.UUCP> jpd@kepler.UUCP (John Donovan) writes:
>I'd like to propose starting a peace net on usenet, to be called
>(not surprisingly) net.peace.  This would be a spin-off of 
>net.politics, giving a forum for peace groups and assorted peaceniks
>to share ideas, alert each other of coming events and activities,
>and generally network together.  For groups with little power and
>less money, information (and its dissemination) is critical.
>  ...
>If peace.net is set up, I would like to continue my (so far local) effort
>to get various peace groups to network together on a national level
>via USENET.
>
>The other critical question is: How many publicly accessible nodes
>are there out there? ...
>For non-profit groups to be able to use USENET, there would have to be
>a number of such nodes around the country---and, hopefully, Europe
>(replies solicited). Are there any, and where???

I like the idea of a net.peace group, but absolutely NOT under the conditions
John has described. I see three serious problems:

First, as John has defined it, net.peace would be used to link peace activist
groups around the country that have no other purpose or involvement with
Usenet. What with net traffic already at the bursting point, I must oppose a
group which uses the net only as a means to avoid paying their own phone
bills. Usenet is NOT a free bulletin board service, available to anyone with a
modem and friend at a Usenet site. Everyone is expected to contribute as much
to the net as they take out. 

Second, I question the unabashed political use of the net. It's one thing to
provide a soapbox for expressing ideas (e.g. net.politics); it is quite
another for the net to sanction a group which uses it as a means to a political
ends. (This has legal/litigious risks, as well.)

Finally, even if it were acceptable, there is no way that net.peace would
accomplish the goals John has set for it. It is not possible (or desirable) to
control or restrict who submits articles to a group. Thus net.peace would
quickly degenerate into the free-for-all that net.politics now is, with great
debates over pros and cons of the peace movement. 

Net.peace is a perfect application for a mailing list, if you get the explicit
permission of every jump site. Possibly a more elegant solution would be a
phone network of PC's, using one of the many available bulletin board software
packages that are available. 
-- 
      -m-------     Carl S. Gutekunst, Software R&D, Pyramid Technology
    ---mmm-----     P.O. Box 7295, Mountain View, CA 94039   415/965-7200
  -----mmmmm---     UUCP: {allegra,decwrl,shasta,sun,topaz!pyrnj}!pyramid!csg
-------mmmmmmm-     ARPA: pyramid!csg@sri-unix.ARPA