Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 +MULTI+2.11; site stc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!petrus!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!mcvax!ukc!stc!pete From: pete@stc.UUCP Newsgroups: net.followup Subject: Re: Usenet should exclude South Africa Message-ID: <767@stc-b.stc.UUCP> Date: Mon, 13-Jan-86 09:42:22 EST Article-I.D.: stc-b.767 Posted: Mon Jan 13 09:42:22 1986 Date-Received: Thu, 16-Jan-86 04:58:27 EST References: <704@pucc-j> <132@molihp.UUCP> Reply-To: pete@stc.UUCP (Peter Kendell) Organization: STC Telecoms, London N11 1HB. Lines: 31 Summary: Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Keywords: Xpath: ukc eagle In article <132@molihp.UUCP> martinl@HP-UX.UUCP (Martin M Lacey) writes: >In article <704@pucc-j> rsk@pucc-j (Wombat) writes: >>This may be premature, as I am not aware of any potential Usenet hosts >>in South Africa, but I think we should anticipate future developments >>and, as a body, refuse to connect any of our hosts to any host in South >>Africa until apartheid disappears from that country. >>-- >>Rich Kulawiec pucc-j!rsk or rsk@asc.purdue.edu > >Nice try, but in my opinion that is a very bad idea. The Net *purpose* >is the exchange of information and discusion of ideas. Restrictions, >if any, should only apply to material goods. Finding out how the people >there are thinking and what is *really* going on is an important part >in eliminating the idea of aparthied. They only way of *forcing* a change >is to make as many people aware of the situation as possible - democracy >ya' know. In fact, I would like to see such a connection occur; talk >about getting what you have to say out to PEOPLE :-). Surely, information counts as 'material goods'. Otherwise, why pay for software, Reuters, etc? Whether the sort of communication offered by USENET, where simple disagreements seem to become raging personal feuds very quickly, would be helpful in persuading the poor frightened paranoid people of South Africa to return to rationality is doubtful to me. -- Peter Kendell ...!mcvax!ukc!stc!pete `I've suffered for my art. Now it's your turn.'