97 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
97 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
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[From CIS; this is just an informational forward, and does not represent
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EFF positions or policy.]
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Should your employer prohibit you from
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operating a BBS, on your own equipment, at
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your own expense, on your own time with the
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threat of being fired if you do? It has
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happened! Tandy/Radio Shack did it to one of
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their employees. This is a press release of
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the incident. Everyone should read this!
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Rochelle Skwarla
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P.O. Box 5216
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San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-5216
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voice: (805) 549-9625
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modem: (805) 549-0961
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CompuServe: 74007,1230
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America Online: Rochelle1
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Internet: 74007.1230@compuserve.com.
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>>> NEWS RELEASE <<<
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Dateline: San Luis Obispo, California
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The Constitutional right of Freedom of Speech by using the
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Information Superhighway is being roadblocked by Joseph Provenzano,
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one of the District Managers for Radio Shack - a division of Tandy
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Corporation.
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Ms. Rochelle C. Skwarla, one of the System Operators (SYSOP) for a
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local hobby computer Bulletin Board System (BBS) and also an employee
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of Radio Shack was advised to consider shutting down her system or
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leaving the company.
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Searchlight of San Luis Obispo, California has been in operation
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since March 1990 and has become one of the largest, most popular, and
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well respected BBSs on the Central California Coast.
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Ms. Skwarla has also been employed by one of the local Radio Shack
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stores since April 1991.
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Ms. Skwarla and another coworker were advised on Saturday, May 14,
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1994 by the company that the operation of their free (donation
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optional) system was a conflict of interest and she should choose one
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or the other.
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Rochelle gave the following statement:
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"I am a very strong believer in everyone's right to freedom of
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speech. Preventing me from operating a free BBS would deny me and the
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many hundreds of my callers this Constitutional freedom. I cannot
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allow this to happen. I don't really have much of a choice. I am not
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only standing up for my own rights, but most-importantly, for the
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rights of everyone to access and make available the means to use the
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Information Superhighway. If I allow my employer to dictate to me
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what I can and can't do with my own equipment on my own time, where
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will it end?"
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"Their control stops at the timeclock. If this were not so then
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everyone's rights are in jeopardy. Your employer could tell you that
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you can't do such-and-such off the job. For example: You work for an
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insurance company that refuses to insure motorcycle riders because
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they consider them to be too high a risk. Now lets say you own some
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land which you allow off-road bikers to use free. Your employer says
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that this is a conflict of interest and you can't do it. Should this
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be allowed? How about if you wrote a letter to the local newspaper
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editor why you felt motorcycle riders should not be discriminated
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against. Should you be fired?"
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"A computer Bulletin Board System, or Online Information Service as I
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prefer to call them, is a form of media. Something like a party line
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telephone, mail, library, radio, television, magazine, and newspaper
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all rolled into one. Almost everything --books, letters, speeches,
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movies, and songs-- are now available through electronic means. How
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you access it is through a BBS or OIS. Some systems are free, others
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are not. We are talking about freedom of the press and the people.
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The Information Superhighway is just now starting to be built. My
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system is one of the on-ramps. It is open to traffic and will
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continue to be so for years to come. I will fight this tooth and
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nail if I have to. Like a turtle, you will never get anywhere if you
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don't stick your neck out."
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John V. Roach, CEO and Chairman, Tandy Corporation, Tandy Trends,
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Volume 9, Number 1, Page 8: "...I urge you to contact your
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congressional representatives'offices - either by phone or by mail -
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and let them know that you cannot support these bills [H.R. 3626,
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H.R. 3636 & S.1822] unless they protect your Right to Own, your Right
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to Choose, and your Right of Access on the Information Superhighway."
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>>> UPDATE: <<<
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The week following the ultimatum Ms. Skwarla's weekly hours were cut
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back to 15. The following week to 8 1/2. On May 27, 1994 her hours
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were cut back to 0 and she was advised that her services would no
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longer be needed at that store.
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