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From: brad@looking.UUCP
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Defending Eric Mading
Message-ID: <1132@looking.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Nov-87 01:12:18 EST
Article-I.D.: looking.1132
Posted: Mon Nov 16 01:12:18 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 17-Nov-87 04:12:13 EST
References: <1043@pbhyd.UUCP> <25092COK@PSUVMA> <6851@ut-ngp.UUCP> <25141COK@PSUVMA>
Reply-To: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Organization: Looking Glass Software Ltd.
Lines: 28

The question I want to ask now is, "What will be the consequences down the
road?"

I guess about half a dozen people have now been "kicked off the net" in one
way or another.  Most have been removed by the owners of the machines they
posted from.  This Mading fellow is the first I know of to have caused
people on other machines to insert code to delete his articles.  (It's been
talked about before, but has it been done?)

One of the net's biggest problems is that it encourages outrageousness.
These net.noise folks who have felt owner wrath would never say in public and
in person what they post to the net.

So my question is, will the history of boot-offs serve as a deterrent?
Will saying to a netnoise, "several people in the past just offended too
many people and they got booted." gain any validity?

In regular society, people don't stand up in crowded rooms of educated
people and yell, "all Jews at ignorant pot smokers."  They wouldn't even
think of it, because they know the animosity it would generate.  How can
we make this realization come home?  How many of you have deliberately spiced
up an article in order to encourage response?

Wait and see.  Perhaps the history of those who have been shunned should be
included in the "intro for new users" documents.  It's better that people
get a warning.
-- 
Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473