Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!enea!kps!per
From: per@kps.UUCP (Per Ejeklint /EFS)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Soviet Access to Usenet
Summary: Let them in!
Keywords: Soviet, UUCP network
Message-ID: <346@kps.UUCP>
Date: 22 Nov 88 08:39:53 GMT
References: <7649@well.UUCP> <8081@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Reply-To: per@kps.UUCP (Per Ejeklint /EFS)
Organization: Kuwait Petroleum Sweden, Stockholm
Lines: 48

In article <8081@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> ajdenner@athena.mit.edu (Alexander J Denner) writes:
>In article <7649@well.UUCP> crunch@well.UUCP (John Draper) writes:
>>   I have heard a LOT of talk about adding Soviet Sites to the UUCP network
>>but have heard nothing but VAPORWARE.    Does anyone out there in Net land
>>WANT to add Soviet sites??   I can think of a hundred reasons why!!
>>not to mention what it would do towards World Peace.    
>
>	I do not think this would be a very good idea.
> [...]   Although I have nothing against the Russin people, the Soviets
>are NOT our friends.

Have you ever been in Soviet? Have you ever heard of the massive interest
that the Soviet people shows about USA? No, they don't listen on the
American radio broadcasted to the Soviet (they are already fed up with
propaganda), but they read all the magasines and newspapers they can get.
A surprisingly big part of the younger people speeks english, and takes
every opportunity to practise. The younger generation is very tired of the
old peoples demagogic speeches of old times, and they regard western countries
as something very exciting and as a source of new thinking.
You can quite comfortable regard the people of the Soviet union as your
friends. I won't say though that all of the leaders in Soviet are your best
friends, but that doesn't differ from USA, does it?

>The Soviet KGB has an immense information gathering
>network in this country, why make it easier for them to tune into... 

So what? The US has equal amount of information gathering devices and units
beamed towards USSR. If you really believe that Soviet is superior in
gathering information, then you are wrong.

>	Having a UUCP site would make it much easier for them to
>spread a malicious virus in a time of friction.  Also, what if a virus
>from the US leaks into Russia (or a virus from the USSR gets into the US)?
>Such a situation would cause many problems and bad feelings.

I hoped this kind of McCarthyistic rubbish was a rare thing these days!
Your view of the world is obviosly based on old cold war propaganda. What
causes "problems and bad feelings" is most of all when we don't trust
people of the very same flesh and blood, and when we are suspicious instead
of encouraging.
The best thing that we computing people can do to encourage Glasnost and
Perestroika is to welcome the people of the Soviet union into the net.
The more information channels that exists, the more difficult to control
the feelings expressed.


Per Ejeklint					per@kps.UUCP
Stockholm, Sweden