Um. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: FWD: Florida police reportedly harass anti-MS Linux protestes Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2001 00:08:19 -0400 From: "Donald E. Eastlake 3rd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2001 19:18:42 -0400 From: David Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: IP: Florida police reportedly harass anti-MS Linux protestes >Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2001 06:59:30 -0400 >From: robin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Clearwater Allows Scientology, not Linux, Evangelism > >Dear Declan and Politechnics: > >Last week, across the street from the Church of Scientology's Sandcastle >Center in Clearwater, Florida, Microsoft representatives harassed >members of a local Linux Users Group [LUG] who were handing out CDs >containing free software in front of the city-owned Haborview Convention >Center. With the aid of Harborview security guards, they forced this >seditious activity to stop. > >"You can't pass out free software here," was the phrase a number of LUG >members specifically recall hearing from Microsoft staffers and >convention center security guards. My NewsForge colleague Tina Gasperson >wrote this lighthearted story about the event: > >http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=01/06/01/1540231 > >Microsoft was holding an Office XP "rollout" seminar in the convention >center, and perhaps they felt that, as paying exhibitors, this gave them >the right to stifle free expression (and free software) not only inside >the building but in the open air nearby. But the Suncoast Linux Users >Group was a legitimate exhibitor at the Computer and Technology Showcase >being held on a separate floor of the convention center at the same >time. > >Apparently none of the LUG members thought of saying, "No, we're not >going to leave. This is public property, and we have as much right to >pass out literature and software here as anyone else, especially since >most of us live here and are, therefore, part-owners of this facility." >When confronted by uniformed security personnel they left quietly and >returnd to their display booth inside, which got far more visitors than >the Microsoft booth a few hundred feet away despite having a decidedly >amateur, "thrown together" appearance. > >Meanwhile, Church of Scientology members were handing out fliers on >nearby city-owned beaches, as they apparently do every day, unmolested >by security guards or police. > >It's amusing, really, to think that Scientologists are allowed to spread >their material and philosophy freely in Clearwater while Linux advocates >are not allowed to do the same thing, at least while Microsoft is in >town. > >The Church of Scientology has a history of calling for security and >police assistance whenever anyone demonstrates against them, no matter >how peacefully, near their Clearwater buildings. Apparently Microsoft >marketing people are following in Scientology's footsteps by trying to >quash those who publically speak out against their practices. > >Is it possible that Microsoft has been infiltrated by Scientologists? >Could Bill Gates be a secret member? Or has Microsoft developed an >internal culture so cultlike that it acts like an obnoxious religious >cult without realizing it, not only internally, but in the way it deals >with the outside world and any perceived competitors? > >Scientology did not start out as a religion. It became one to shield its >activities from prying eyes, especially those of government. Could this >be Microsoft's ultimate defense against antitrust actions and all other >government regulations: to become a religion? > >- Robin 'Roblimo' Miller >Editor in Chief, http://osdn.com >(publishers of Slashdot, freshmeat, >NewsForge, and other fine Web sites) > >------------------------------------------------------------------------- >POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list >You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. >To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html >This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ >------------------------------------------------------------------------- ********************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following text in the *body* (*not* the subject line) of the letter: unsubscribe gnhlug **********************************************************
