181 lines
8.5 KiB
Plaintext
181 lines
8.5 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 9 Num. 10
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======================================
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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PRAIRIENET RESPONDS TO COMPLAINTS
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=================================
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From xxxxxxx@xxx.xxxTue Sep 10 15:11:11 1996
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Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 14:26:32 -0500
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From: Prairienet System Administrators <xxxxxxx@xxx.xxx>
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To: Brian Redman <bigxc@prairienet.org>
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Cc: BigRed <bigred@shout.net>
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Subject: Re: sending unsolicited mail
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Mr. Redman,
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You will find my responses to your points below. But before I do
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that, for the record let me state that my name is Martin Wolske, and
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I am the system's administrator for Prairienet.
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I have several helpers who also help in handling the high volume of
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sysadmin mail we get. In order to avoid confusion as to whom to respond
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when replying to mail from sysadmin, we typically sign the email with
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"-- The Prairienet Systems Staff", sometimes including the initials of
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the sender. Prior to signing in this manner, a considerable number of
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replies came to the personal email rather than the sysadmin email account.
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In message <Pine.3.89.9609091752.A23676-0100000@bluestem.prairienet.org>you wri
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te:
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>On Sun, 8 Sep 1996, Prairienet System Administrators wrote:
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>
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>> Just a reminder that sending unsolicited mass e-mail is explicitly in
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>> violation of Prairienet's Acceptable Use Policy. Any further complaints
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>> against this account may result in its suspension.
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>>
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>> -- The Prairienet Systems Staff
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>
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>For starters, I vociferously protest the fact that you have
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>apparently judged me as guilty without allowing me to present
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>my side.
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Prairienet is a member-supported service provided to its userbase.
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When you VOLUNTARILY become part of its userbase, you agree to abide
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by Prairienet's Acceptable Use Policy. This is standard practice for
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an organization. For instance, if you walk into McDonalds with no
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shirt and no shoes, you will be asked to leave. You aren't taken to
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a judge, you aren't even asked for an explaination.
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At Prairienet, we have our own Acceptable Use Policy, and we have
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our own steps that are followed when a user does not abide by these
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policies. These steps are consistently followed regardless of who the
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person is that is not following the policies. I personally have followed
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these steps for active volunteers of Prairienet when needed.
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Our standard procedure is as follows: If we recieve a minor complaint
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about a user not abiding by the Acceptable Use Policy, we send a warning
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such as the one you recieved above. If the complaint is more major, and
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there is significant supporting evidence, we immediately suspend the account.
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Regardless, though, we are open to hearing all sides of the given issue
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and do occasionally find that the initial complaint was unjustified.
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If there are continued complaints concerning the user, and if the user does
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not respond to repeated warnings by the Systems Staff, we then remove the
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user from our system. However users are never permanently removed from
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the system without giving all sides the chance to give their side of the
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story. Further, while some of my volunteers do have authority to send
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warnings, and two very trusted helpers have the authority to suspend an
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account, I am the only one that deletes a problem user from the system.
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>
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>Secondly, I demand to specifically know BY WHOM I have been
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>judged and found guilty. The only indication is "The Prairienet
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>Staff." I demand to know who specifically is behind the decision.
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>
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The name of the person is irrelevent to this discussion. As mentioned
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above, there are a few helpers other than myself who might have
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processed the complaint. But they are only following my procedures.
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>Thirdly, I demand to know how the decision to find me guilty
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>without a hearing was arrived at. Was this a decision made by
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>one, by several? Was it at a meeting? Are you following some
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>sort of guidelines? IF SO, ARE YOUR GUIDELINES APPARENTLY SET
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>UP SO AS TO DENY DUE PROCESS?
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As an organization, we are not bound to "due process" in
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the sense that the United States of America is bound by the US
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Constitution and the Bill of Rights to follow certain steps which we call
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due process. However, we are committed to enabling free speech (see
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'go policy' for our own Bill of Rights). This does not mean, though,
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that we have an "anything goes" attitude. As stated in the Acceptable
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Use Policy, "To insure a beneficial and quality experience to all Prairienet
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members, Prairienet members are required to adhere to the following criteria
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for Acceptable Use." When we recieve a complaint that a user is not abiding
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by this Policy, we follow the steps stated above.
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>
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>Fourthly, I am forwarding a copy of your message to my attorney,
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>a strong civil libertarian.
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And we have continually relied on the advice of the head of the
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Champaign ACLU to make sure that we are acting in an acceptable
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manner, and have sought their advice again in this case.
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>
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>Fifthly, for the record, I am emphatically NOT GUILTY of
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>the "charge" of "spamming" -- whatever that is.
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>
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The above having been said, I believe you are correct. Unfortunately,
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neither Mr. Keane, nor the Systems Staff member noticed that the
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unsolicited mail to Mr. Keane was "Resent-From: Aardvark
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<aardvark@evansville.net>", meaning that while you were the original
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poster of the information to the newsgroup, it only arrived in Mr.
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Keane's mailbox when Aardvark sent it to him. Each of my Systems
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volunteers take their jobs very seriously. This does not mean that
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we do not make mistakes, and we are the first ones to apologize when
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we make mistakes. I apologize now on behalf of my staff for having
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wrongly sent you the warning. I will also send a note to Mr. Keane
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explaining the error.
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>Last, I demand an apology for this latest insult of denying
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>me due process. You receive state and/or federal funds, as
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>I recall.
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However, I stand by the steps stated above for handling complaints.
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It is the best we can do with the limited staff that we have. Where
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our funding comes from is irrelevent, BTW.
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>
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>Brian Redman
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>
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-- Martin Wolske for the Prairienet Systems Staff
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PS, Concerning your post to Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 9 Num. 09,
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we have recieved no pressure to limit the speech of your group or
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any other group for whatever reason, funding or otherwise. Further,
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such restrictions are strictly against Prairienet's "Bill of Rights",
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and more generally against the American Library Association's "Library
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Bill of Rights", by which we abide. Moreover, any attempt at accomplishing
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such restrictions would result in an immediate response by the head of
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the Champaign ACLU, who is a very active Prairienet Volunteer. WE ARE
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STRONGLY COMMITTED TO ENABLING FREE SPEECH!!
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Secondly, no warning was given to "cancel" your account, but only to
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"suspend" it. As stated above, accounts are not canceled without giving
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opportunity for all parties concerned to give their side of the story.
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Thirdly, the public archives at the "Citizens Committee to Clean Up the
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Courts" site would not have been touched regardless of anything done to
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your account.
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Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
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of Conspiracy Nation, nor of its Editor in Chief.
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I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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For information on how to receive the improved Conspiracy
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Nation Newsletter, send an e-mail message to bigred@shout.net
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Want to know more about Whitewater, Oklahoma City bombing, etc?
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(1) telnet prairienet.org (2) logon as "visitor" (3) go citcom
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See also: http://www.europa.com/~johnlf/cn.html
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See also: ftp.shout.net pub/users/bigred
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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