67 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
67 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
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American BBS Association Background
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The American BBS Association was formed as a result of media activity in
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the Birmingham, Alabama area. A local station aired sensationalist stories
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about children accessing "dirty pictures" on local BBS. Local Sysops made
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numerous attempts to contact the management of the station to discuss the
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misperceptions being reinforced by such reporting. The reaction of the
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local station was to completely ignore the members of the local BBS
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community.
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This was particularly disturbing in light of the contributions of the BBS
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community to the state and city. Local BBS provided free Email to the
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Gulf states during the war for family members and friends to communicate
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with personnel assigned there. Local Sysops provided extensive forums for
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local and national candidates and campaigns to communicate with the public.
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Many local BBS provide a variety of free services in support of the local
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schools, charity organizations, Police Departments. The BBS community
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provides Internet and other International communications capability that
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is not available through any other channel in the state for individuals.
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Despite the more than a decade of service and support of the local
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community and business, local media completely ignores the benefits and
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contribution of the local BBS community in preference for stories that
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promulgate old stereotypes and sensational implications. With the growing
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visibility of BBS but a deep ignorance of what a BBS is, this trend is
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certain to grow unless we take positive action.
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While the efforts of individual Sysops can easily be ignored by a media
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organization, imagine the effects of phone calls and letters from hundreds
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of Sysops and Users across the State in conjunction with Press Releases and
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Press Conferences from the State ABBSA Chapter.
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation is doing a wonderful job on the National
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level to address many of the legislative, legal, and social issues that
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affect the Electronic Community. But they have neither the resouces nor the
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emphasis to address problems on the local level. The ABBSA is oriented to
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fill that vacuumn and to address the isssues that affect all of us on
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a local level.
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Past efforts to form a National level organization of BBS or Sysops have
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foundered on the rocks of "control" and "authority". Being Sysops ourselves
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we have the natural loathing for anyone telling us how to run our boards or
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to try to impose a set of rules on us. BBSing is a good example of "anarchy
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in action". But the vast majority of Sysops share common goals and standards.
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The intention of the ABBSA is to "codify" those common standards and goals in
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a written form with which we can all agree but which do not in any way
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interfere with our personal control of our individual BBS.
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We believe the Ethical Standards of the ABBSA are ones with which all Sysops
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can readily agree and support since they simply echo existing standards.
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The growth of the ABBSA provides every member BBS with a platform from which
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to communicate with the media, legislators, and the public. With a set of
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Public Ethical Standards and a formal organization, we can much more
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effectively combat the hysteria, stereotypes, and sensationalist image that
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is emerging more and more in the public eye. The continued growth of the
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local, national and world BBS community is dependent on an accurate public
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understanding of the potential and benefits of electronic communications.
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We encourage all Sysops to support the ABBSA by becoming a member and
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publically posting your support of the goals and Ethical Standards of the
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ABBSA.
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(American BBS Association and ABBSA are Service Marks of)
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( the American BBS Association 1992 )
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