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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!cybvax0!frog!john
From: john@frog.UUCP (John Woods, Software)
Newsgroups: net.news,net.politics,net.legal
Subject: Re: Towards making hosts and their admin free from a criminal offence
Message-ID: <880@frog.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 22-May-86 23:50:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: frog.880
Posted: Thu May 22 23:50:51 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 25-May-86 12:16:28 EDT
References: <611@bu-cs.UUCP> <164@comp.lancs.ac.uk> <20663@styx.UUCP> <1259@mulga.OZ> <2026@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU>
Distribution: net
Organization: Superfrog Heaven [ CRDS, Framingham MA ]
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Xref: watmath net.news:4905 net.politics:16314 net.legal:3496

Well, something implores me to jump into this (I even tried lying down and
it didn't go away, sorry)...

> In article <1259@mulga.OZ> isaac@mulga.OZ (Isaac Balbin) writes:
> >[...] The facts are: 
> >(1)	You CAN say what you want.
> >(2)	It MIGHT be illegal in some other country

As a practical matter, it cannot be illegal in some other country for me to
sit here in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA and say something distasteful to
a foreign lawmaker.  A law forbidding a statement within a jurisdiction can't
have effect outside that jurisdiction, and a law forbidding the statement
anywhere in the Universe is pretty pointless.  Those of us on the side of
liberty are not afraid of being dragged out of bed for maligning Gorbachev's
tailor (or Mitterrand's, either [Is it against the law in France to misspell
his name?  I don't have a reference handy...  My apologies to anyone burned
at the stake for forwarding this message if it is :-) ] ).

> >(3)	Is it you or "usenet" or the system admin or whoever who is the
> >	vehicle for the illegal publication of your material?
> >(4)	If it is NOT you who is responsible, why should anyone else be?
> >Please address this issue and not America Vs the_rest_of_the_world
> 
If your government forbids you from receiving certain messages from me,
then you'd best prevent receiving ANY messages from me -- your law is
your problem, and you can not safely rely on my self-control.
If you think that you are being shortchanged by not having the benefit of
my glowing wit on those few legal things I say (:-), then you can either
take your chances, or work to overturn the authoritarian laws that make
concerned that I might say something offensive.

Or, in short, if you enjoy surrendering your rights, unplug your modem and
cower in the dark.  Don't complain to me.

--
John Woods, Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA, (617) 626-1101
...!decvax!frog!john, ...!mit-eddie!jfw, jfw%mit-ccc@MIT-XX.ARPA

"Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way.
This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of
complaining."
			Jeff Raskin, interviewed in Doctor Dobb's Journal