On Monday, January 19, 2015 at 8:16:01 PM UTC-6, Ben Finney wrote: > Freedom of expression entails an obligation on the state > to not quash anyone's expression. It does not affect > anyone who is not the state; it imposes no obligation on > the PSF. [...] So a forum such as this can block obnoxious > spam, and that choice does not impact anyone's freedom of > expression.
Ben, i know we have not agreed much in the past, and you may be thinking that i intend to pick a fight with you here (and i don't), however i implore you to give more thought to the vital importance of free expression. I believe that free speech is so important, so vital to the existence of free societies, that it's practice *MUST* extend far beyond the boundaries of the state's rule, and be fostered by *ANY* group who is in the public domain. No one here would justify a public business refusing to serve or employ a person based on race, religion, sex, or otherwise. So why would you so easily discriminate against speech? I agree that these spam posts are annoying, but that is not enough of an excuse to start limiting people's speech in a *PUBLIC* forum. If python-list were a private group for "members only", then by all means make up whatever rules you want to. But when shared publicly, we have a duty to support freedom for *ALL*. We must suffer the annoyances if we want to enjoy freedom for all. -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
