On Thu, 11 Jun 1998, Ronald F. Guilmette wrote:
) In message <000601bd9550$bd5db800$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
) "Kief Morris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
) >This scheme would put
) >the mechanism in place to make this easy to do, and you know politicians
) >will latch onto it.
) No. I don't know any such thing. Most of them can't find their keyboards
) with both hands and most haven't the vaguest idea what we online folks do
) here on the net, so I have no reason to believe that they would suddenly
) take some morbid interest in mailing lists and how they operate on the net.
I'm sure they wouldn't as well. And as such, them seeing this new method
of censoring communication on the Internet in order to curtail the
horrible, anti-social action of spamming would be all the more easier.
These same people who mostly can't find their keyboards with both hands
also passed the Decency in Communication Act (which was, luckily, erased
by the Supreme Court because of its blatent unconstitutionality).
) >But I don't like the idea of taking power away from individuals,
) The idea I put forward wouldn't really have the effect of taking away anyone's
) liberty. You would still be allowed to scream your bloody lungs out in the
) wilderness, but nobody might be listening when you do... in particular if
) you refuse to follow any of the standard protocols of polite discourse and
) discussions that are acceptable by the rest of society.
What you're proposing would put up a barricade around my little stretch of
the "wilderness" in order to protect the nearby town from the possibility
that I might be a person who's shouting out about my latest set of HP
printers. In order to rant about the evils of burocratic process, I'd have
to become involved with it to register my section of the wilderness as
being "safe" from unsolicited advertizements.
) This is no different from saying that yes, you *can* try to run a mailing
) list which always sends mail out on port 17025 (rather than port 25) but it
) then bomes likely that you won't garner much of an audience. Still, you
) are free to make the choice to defy convention if you like. Be my guest.
The difference there, of course, is that port 25 isn't just a convention,
it's a "standard."
--
Daniel Reed <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
A computer without Windows is like a fish without a bicycle
