374 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
374 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
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F I D O N E W S -- Vol.12 No.29 (17-Jul-1995)
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| A newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
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| FidoNet BBS community | "FidoNews" BBS |
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| _ | +1-519-570-4176 |
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| / \ | |
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| /|oo \ | |
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| (_| /_) | |
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| _`@/_ \ _ | |
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| | | \ \\ | Editors: |
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| | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
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| |__U__| / \// | Sylvia 1:221/194 |
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| _//|| _\ / | |
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| (_/(_|(____/ | |
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| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
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| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| Submission address: editors 1:1/23 |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| MORE addresses: |
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| submissions=> editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Don -- don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Sylvia max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
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| obtaining copies of fidonews or the internet gateway faq |
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| please refer to the end of this file. |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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========================================================================
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Table of Contents
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========================================================================
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1. Editorial..................................................... 1
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2. Articles...................................................... 2
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CyberSmut, the Exon Bill, and Thee:......................... 2
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Request for info on Kimberlin............................... 6
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3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 6
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========================================================================
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Editorial
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A very quiet week this week with only two articles. The
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Germer incident seems to have gone away, as has the net 150
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kafuffal. Nothing left to fight about ... mmm.
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I wonder how much of the bickering that goes on in fidonet is
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due to simple boredom? It strikes me that there is very little
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new happening in the net. Perhaps one off the problems with
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standards is that they also spell stagnation. Policies have the
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downside of preventing inovation.
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FidoNews 12-29 Page: 2 17 Jul 1995
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========================================================================
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Articles
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CyberSmut, the Exon Bill, and Thee:
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by Langston Goldfinch, SysOp of N.O.P.C.; Fido 1:396/17,
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Psychotherapist by profession. (langston@nopc.org)
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Warning, using a computer may hurt you. Or your kids. No doubt soon
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after Gutenberg had his press, or Bell his phone, alarms went off among
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the peasants. At my high school students were forbidden to watch
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Television since it was a tool of Satan. Maybe they had something? At
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least their answer was to not allow me to see it, rather than trying to
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make television sets illegal. Well, if your psyche is tender, or you
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project it upon your offspring, read on.
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Second warning, this report deviates from previous style. I suppose it
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is impossible to discuss anything without one's personality and values
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sneaking through. Objectivity being, as someone said, the myth of
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immaculate perception. So far my writings here have been instructional,
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about using your BBS, etc. Here I wish to share with you my thinking and
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concerns on an issue gaining public attention, namely the dark side of
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online services, including your own BBS.
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One common confusion exists on this subject: The meanings of
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"censorship" and "editorializing". A policy of restricting content
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enforced or based on Law is Censorship. The current standards in this
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country (Liberal for the most part) are to Censor "Obscenity" but not
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all offensive or erotic material. This produced our rating's system, and
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"adults only" access for movies, etc. In my view "adults" should state
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"juvenile" only, since that is what the material usually consists of,
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but then that is my taste.
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Three different types of activity raise concern.
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a) The use of offensive language in public echoes.
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This means not only "Carlin's Seven Forbidden Words", but usage of
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epithets and derogatory terms in confrontational exchanges. Often the
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moderator (many echoes have none) will admonish the "offender", and
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usually can bar participation. Software is to remove words designated,
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and/or "TWIT" a user. There is a problem with this, as Prodigy is
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discovering. The moderator or BBS may be liable if they do not continue
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to edit offensive, or libelous, material. Your SysOp's procedure is not
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to edit content, but if a user proves to be unusually obnoxious to bar
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his access to the system. This has been done for reasons other than
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offense in language (attempting to damage the system, or in one occasion
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to engage in possible criminal behavior, selling stolen goods.) The
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"rules" of FidoNet (for example) consist of:
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1. Do not be unusually annoying. This would include repeated asking
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of questions, especially if in the manual!
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2. Do not be too easily annoyed. Give the other user a break!
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FidoNet is our basic connection to BBSs world. Now connecting to UseNet
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FidoNews 12-29 Page: 3 17 Jul 1995
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has given us a much greater range. Estimates of actual numbers vary
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widely. InterNet, being world wide, has no "rules" per se. Each user (or
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Net) may be subject to various regulations due to their own system (a
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University for example, or Country.) But for a user here to complain
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that someone in Zambia broke some local rule?
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Many echoes seem to operate solely for the availability of offense. Fido
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echo FLAME exists for people to insult each other. These insults are
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primitive and lack the finesse of the British Parliament. Other echoes
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deal with topics likely to shock the average "normal" (you?) The names
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of these echoes will usually warn, or entice, you. Be aware that
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"Petting Zoo" is not about household pets! Sexual aberrations seem
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particularly attractive to Americans and "civilized" Europeans, but I
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understand that these offer nothing for third world countries. If you
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live on a farm you don't need to read about some things.
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b) The meeting of juveniles with possible pedophiles.
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The Times-Picayune (New Orleans 6-12-95) reported a run-away girl (13)
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found in California far from her Kentucky Home (no music here, please).
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Apparently she "met" someone with her computer via an online service and
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was "lured" away. The FBI urges parents to "be more careful about how
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their children using computers". Gee, Dr. Spock used to give parenting
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advice! A few months ago "boy" (18) met an older man in a chat room on
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AOL. This daemon in Cyberspace sent him a bus ticket and he disappeared
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into the sunset. The parents finally forced AOL to connect the son and
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now "chat" with him online! Maybe they can raise the ante? Whatever
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happened to pen- pals and short wave? If Franda in Texas had sent me the
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fare maybe I would have run for the border? Never crossed my mind till
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today she may not have been anything like her picture!
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There is not much that can be done to prevent these encounters if your
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child has access to your modem. All online services offer total
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strangers "talking" to each other. I showed my 12 year old the articles
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mentioned above. She just snickered, like what kind of an idiot was the
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girl anyway? Better parenting? Smug since it didn't happen to me.
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I recall several years ago while setting up the BBS getting good
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technical help from someone online. I finally had occasion to go by the
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man's house. He came to the door (a few years younger than me) and I
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said:
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"David?
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"What do you want with my son??" The man practically bit my head
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off!
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The "expert" was only 14! I had no idea. In Cyberspace, you can be
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whatever age you can muster, or weight, or gender for that matter! You
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get measured by your ASCII alone. One user complained about being barred
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from a BBS because of his "race". He got clobbered by the others on the
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echo. Obviously, how are we to know his (her?) race. Of course one's
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name can give matters away. Isn't Harry Lee related to Lighthorse Harry
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Lee? (R.E.'s daddy, case you forgot).
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c) The availability of Graphics that are "obscene".
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FidoNews 12-29 Page: 4 17 Jul 1995
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What about the dirty pitchers? (as Archie use to say!). The graphics
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that upset some people are of three distinct kinds.
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1-) My teen sexual fantasies began with bra and girdle ads in Sears'
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catalogue. Hey! I had a deprived childhood! I still am a little nervous
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if my mother is watching me scan Macy's or Bloomingdale's "erotica".
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Most older men will understand me. What is available on K&B shelves
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(Bikini pictorials) will do just fine, thank you! And what if some
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pedophile gets his jollies watching Shirley Temple tap dance! Oh that
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lace! Pretty hard pressed to object to the same thing on BBSs.
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2-) Next level are the images not accessible to middle America. Go to
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the roped off sections at the local News stand for example. Granted this
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stuff is a little hard for juveniles to possess. About once a year I
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love walking down Bourbon St. late at night. No longer do I gawk at the
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shows. What now entices me are the tourists "shocked" by the shows!
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"Look at that Myrtle, it really a man, can you believe it!"
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The InterNet also can educate about the back alley of the world.
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3-) But what really upsets folks are the graphics (and they include
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short "moving" pictures) that you won't find in current outlets in this
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country, commercial or marginal.
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I was watching one panel this morning arguing the Exon Bill. One person
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maintained that this "pornography" is readily available and easy to
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even inadvertently have slammed in your face. She proceeded to show a
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bondage picture on the screen. She lied, pure and simple, about how
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"easy" it is to get these pictures. It took me a week! Although not as
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precocious as the average 14 year old I do know something about how the
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system works. To make it short: you have to subscribe to the newsgroup
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(or mailing list) then you have to unencode the file then you have to
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run a graphics viewer capable of handling jpeg files. Now, think you
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can do it!
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Recently in NYC I was walking up Broadway near Columbia Univ. A group
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was demonstrating against what to them was "porno". Explicit photos from
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Hustler Magazine (and such) got shoved in my face and I was asked to
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sign a petition to make such stuff illegal.
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"Where is was the petition to make what you are doing illegal!"
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Not really, I love street theater! Hypocrites! I avoid Flynt and his
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ilk, at least they are honest pornographers! The same strategy now used
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by the Family Resource Center and other pro- censorship groups. If the
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material is evidence of a crime then arrest the criminals for the
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crime, not the picture. But don't shove the picture in my face.
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Legislation is currently on hold at the Federal level (The
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Senate Committee is redrawing the Law. Advocacy groups, pro and con,
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will be airing their views and fanning their flames. Like most
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discussions concerning this media, a good deal of ignorance prevails.
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The concerns are: How to protect children from InterLewd?, or at least
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FidoNews 12-29 Page: 5 17 Jul 1995
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from negligent parents? Our own grand state also had a bill up for
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consideration. The effect of this bill would have been similar to
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charging phone executives with a crime should you receive an obscene
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call. This bill also is on hold.
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Even without new laws people get arrested and go to jail, for making
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some material available online. One man I met got arrested in Lawton
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Oklahoma by a crusading District Attorney. The "crime" involved selling
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CD-Roms that any of you can buy from ads in Computer Shopper. He was
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advertising these on his BBS. Unfortunately the images shocked the local
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Jury. He has lost his business, his house, his family; just like Job!
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Although on appeal he wants to go to jail and get it behind him. Now if
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I were in Singapore I wouldn't spit on the sidewalk, and I have no
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intention of testing our District Attorney's political disposition.
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Would be odd to pick on local BBSs however, with Bourbon Street so wide
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open! Some of you may remember the fracas about the nude Thais a few
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years back!
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I realize this controversy has been going on since Comstock was a baby
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and nothing I say is likely to change any of your minds. As SysOp of
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your BBS you should know (I think) what my values and policies are. On
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the few echoes I moderate (NOPC being quite active) I have no rules at
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all. Any member user can say what they wish. If someone offends, tell
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them. If someone hurts your feelings, deal with it. If you need my help
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in suggesting ways to protect and take care of yourself I will give it.
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If you try anything criminal you will find your access cut. If you
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offend me then consider yourself among an elite, very few have
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succeeded! If anything here has offended you then maybe I have not
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explained myself clearly enough, or maybe, just maybe, you are too
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easily annoyed.
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In the mean time don't look for extreme graphics on your BBS. If you
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have the yearning contact me privately and I will tell you where to
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search and how. Frankly, graphics, also called binaries, take too much
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space on the hard drives. They also tie up the system, too much time
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downloading. I know one or two of you have downloaded all the swimsuit
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pitchers, you could have gone to K&B and bought them! Secondly, with
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100,000 messages a day coming into our system there is absolutely no way
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for me protect your children. Do it yourselves. We do keep logs for a
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week or so (again, space), and if you wish I will send any member copies
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to check whatever you wish. Don't ask me to do it. Behave on echoes as
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if you were in person, if in doubt about proper way to handle matters
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read Ms. Manners, she is definitive.
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FidoNews 12-29 Page: 6 17 Jul 1995
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From: Fredric Rice (1:102/890)
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To: Editor (1:1/23)
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Subject: Request for Info
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Request for info on Kimberlin
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Greetings, netters. This is an unusual article for FidoNews: I'm
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looking for anyone who has text files on Kimberlin, the political
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prisoner sent to jail for some drug related crime but kept their for
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political reasons. It seems he sold pot to Dan Quayle or some such.
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All I can recall on the case was that Amnesty International
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registered him as a political prisoner and newspapers and magazines
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around the country took minor interest.
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If anyone has any info, I would be thankful to recieve it. I don't
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know _any_ of the particulars nor do I know whether he's been released
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yet.
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Thanks in advance.
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Fredric L. Rice
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tstream@centcon.com
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The Skeptic Tank 1:102/890.0
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(818) 335-9601
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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========================================================================
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Fidonews Information
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|||
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|
========================================================================
|
|||
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|||
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------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
|
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|||
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Editors: Donald Tees, Sylvia Maxwell
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Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
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Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar
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Tom Jennings
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"FidoNews" BBS
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|||
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FidoNet 1:1/23
|
|||
|
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BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS)
|
|||
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|||
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more addresses:
|
|||
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|
Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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|||
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Sylvia- 1:221/194, max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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(Postal Service mailing address)
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FidoNews
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128 Church St.
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Kitchener, Ontario
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Canada
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N2H 2S4
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voice: (519) 570-3137
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sylvia: (519) 579-8029
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FidoNews 12-29 Page: 7 17 Jul 1995
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Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
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INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
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of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
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authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
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does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in
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these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of
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FidoNews.
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Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
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Copyright 1995 Donald Tees. All rights reserved. Duplication
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and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use
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in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or the eds.
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OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
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form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
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Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
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PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail
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address.
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INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org,
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in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews.
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Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may
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freq GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message to
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fidofaq@gisatl.fidonet.org. No message or text or subject is
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necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated
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response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch
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should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the
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previously listed address.
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SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
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FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
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ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
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from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
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"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
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trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.
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' ' disgreement is actually necessary,
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or we'd all have to get in fights
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or semethin to amuse ourselves,,
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and create the requisite chaos."
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-Tom Jennings
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-- END
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---------------------------------ooh----------------------------------
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