Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ateng!chip
From: chip@ateng.ateng.com (Chip Salzenberg)
Newsgroups: news.misc
Subject: In Moderation - Good or Bad?
Message-ID: <1989Jun12.100943.24233@ateng.ateng.com>
Date: 12 Jun 89 14:09:43 GMT
Organization: A T Engineering, Tampa, FL
Lines: 33

Obviously, reasonable people can and do disagree on the subject of the
interaction between commercial operations and Usenet.  I see it thus:

    Usenet cooexists with, and sometimes even supports, commercial
	operations; in turn, commercial operations support Usenet.
	Such cooperation is at the heart of the Usenet spirit as
	I understand it.

    However, the Usenet's cooperative is based upon the distribution of
        information without restriction other than author copyright.

    Therefore, the In Moderation people, by creating a partial news feed
	that is >restricted< to In Moderation subscribers, would fragment
        Usenet and subvert its free flow of information. (Please, I'm not
        predicting the end of Usenet!  Such a development would be a Bad
	Thing, but not a catastrophe.)

In essense, I make this distinction:

    Usenet and commercial enterprises work well together.
    Usenet >as< commercial enterprise is a Bad Thing.

Obviously, not all agree with me on this issue, or even care about it.  But
I intend to do my part to keep the Usenet free of restrictions.

(Of course, all this may turn out to me moot.  The In Moderation people
still have to deal with the issue of article copyright.  Until they settle
that problem, I wouldn't fork over any hard-earned dollars, even if I did
want to subscribe.)
-- 
You may redistribute this article only to those who may freely do likewise.
Chip Salzenberg         |       <chip@ateng.com> or <uunet!ateng!chip>
A T Engineering         |       Me?  Speak for my company?  Surely you jest!