Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!bionet!agate!gsmith@garnet.berkeley.edu
From: gsmith@garnet.berkeley.edu (Gene W. Smith)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Net.Porn ?
Keywords: porn, underage, lawsuit
Message-ID: <15135@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 7 Oct 88 06:53:56 GMT
References: <1278@cbnews.ATT.COM> <509@optilink.UUCP> <1957@spdcc.COM> <15023@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <550@optilink.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@agate.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: gsmith@garnet.berkeley.edu (Gene W. Smith)
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Organization: Garnet Gang Gems of Wisdom, Inc.
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Supersedes: <15123@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
In-reply-to: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)

In article <550@optilink.UUCP>, cramer@optilink (Clayton Cramer) writes:
>In article <15023@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>, gsmith@garnet.berkeley.edu (Gene W. Smith) writes:

>Note that I am distinguishing between what IS, and what SHOULD.  At
>least since Gitlow vs. New York (1925), political speech has been
>recognized as a protected form of free speech.  Over the last 25 years,
>pornography, erotica, or whatever term you wish to use to describe
>sexually-oriented materials, has NOT enjoyed the same protections of
>the courts.

>I'm not concerned about soc.motss in particular -- alt.sex is likely
>to cause the same problems.  Mr. Dyer took exception to my including
>soc.motss in the same list.

  I read them occasionally, and just compared them, and he's dead
right. alt.sex is just what it says it is; soc.motss has a lot of
stuff like whether "monogamy" is The Answer or not, and includes
political speech, which you say is "absolutely" protected.

  In any case, my point is that something a parent might object
to could turn up *anywhere*, and that the free speech rights of
soc.motssers are as important as those of Clayton Cramers.  (It
*is*, after all, a political issue these days--or had you
noticed?)  I think any "warning" should be generic, covering the
whole net and without singling out soc.motss. If you *must* pick
on a group, try alt.sex and alt.drugs.
--
ucbvax!garnet!gsmith     Gene Ward Smith/Brahms Gang/Berkeley CA 94720
 This posting was made possible by a grant from the Mobil Corporation