211 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
211 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
______ ______ ______________
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\ / \ / ____ \ ______|
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| |________| | / \ | |____
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| ________ | ( {} ) | _____)
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/~~~~~~~~~~~ | | | | \____/ | |______ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~\
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| |~~~~~~~ / \ / \ / | ~~~~~~~~~| |
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| | |______| |______| /_____________| | |
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| | ...Hogs of Entropy Text Files Present... | |
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| | "Why Information Must be Free" | |
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| | By: Mr. Sandman | |
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\ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /
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"The actions taken against Craig Neidorf and Steve Jackson -- the
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prosecution of an electronic publisher and the seizure of a BBS
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and an electronically stored book-in-progress -- demonstrate
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governmental disregard of the fundamental constitutional right of
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freedom of speech & I believe it's terribly important to extend to
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these new digital media the same strong First Amendment protections
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of freedom of speech and freedom of expression which we enjoy in
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our own lives and in the print media. The government should not be
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able to seize a bulletin board any more easily than they can seize
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a printing press. We must find ways for law enforcement to do its
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job in protecting the property interests of some of us without
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violating the freedom of speech of the rest of us. This is clearly
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a matter of protecting civil liberties and thus familiar to those
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who take an interest in upholding the Bill of Rights, but it is
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also more than that."
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-- Mitch Kapor, of EFF News
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In today's society, especially in the computer underground, you will find
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that there are many people who act as if they have this diehard belief in
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"Freedom of Information". However, when I have talked to these people, none
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of them seem to have any real reason as to why information should be free.
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Due to 15 year old criminals and lack of knowledge regarding "Freedom of
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Information", a good number of people do not agree with us. As a result,
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recent occurrences on the Internet and the BBS community have shown that the
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general public is supporting the outlawing of information.
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From every person I have talked to, their main reason for keeping
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information free is the Orwellian scenario. They seem to think that Freedom
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of Information is the only thing keeping the government from becoming
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totalitarian. Though this may be a valid argument, it is so extreme that
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most people will not believe it. Therefore, use of this argument will not
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achieve anything and only cause people to laugh. Information should remain
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free for reasons other than the fear of 1984.
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The main reason information should be free is because our society is
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supposed to be free. According to the constitution, the nothing is supposed
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to interfere with "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". If
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information is outlawed, it would go against this one small statement of the
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constitution in many different ways.
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Let us first look at how this would interfere with life. First, we should
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define what life is. One is alive only if they are thinking for themselves.
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Thus, if information is outlawed, the public would not be thinking because it
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would not know what to think. Without information, one has to be told what
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to think. I do not trust anyone to make my decisions or do my thinking for
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me. Neither should you. Thus, if information is outlawed for any reason, I
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would not be able to think and come to my own opinion on a topic. Therefor,
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I would not be alive due to an external force interfering with my life.
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Secondly, we should look at how the outlawing of information would affect
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our liberty. How could one say that we have any liberty if we are not
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trusted with certain knowledge? For example, are we free if we cannot read
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the book "Huck Finn" by Mark Twain because the word "nigger" is used? Are we
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free if we are not allowed to read a magazine publication over the Internet
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because it has a picture of a woman baring her breasts? Finally, are we
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really free if we are not allowed to read a manual that deals with the
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construction of explosives?
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You may never have read any of the items listed above but that does not
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make a difference. You still would not have the liberty to do so. It also
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makes no difference what excuses a person will give for outlawing information.
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I hate to sound like (*gasp*) the NRA but knowledge does not harm people.
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Harm and violence is something distinctly human which has been around long
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before there were printed texts containing information. If information is
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outlawed, something is definitely interfering with your liberty. Finally, the
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outlawing of information greatly interferes with the pursuit of happiness.
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In America, the key things that make people happy are producing something
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useful and making money.
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Already, this has been interfered with by the United States Government.
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At the moment, it is illegal for someone to export encryption algorithms
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outside of the USA if the NSA has not cracked them. As a result, many
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encryption software programmers have been deprived of money due to the fact
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that they cannot sell their products over seas. The reasoning behind this is
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because people have used encryption software to communicate about illegal
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information.
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Would you agree that this is right? Is it relevant what the software
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programs are being used for? Even if the users of encryption software are
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discussing plans to bomb the World Trade Center, is it the programmer that
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has to pay for these actions? These poor software programmers are being
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deprived of happiness by the government. Obviously, with the clause about
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"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", all of the above is
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unconstitutional.
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We also have a small clause in the United States Constitution that gerunds
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"freedom of the press". The press is a way of teaching and keeping the
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public informed. What exactly is information on a digital interface or a
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piece of paper? Obviously, this is a form of the press. Therefor, if anyone
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were to outlaw information, it would be in conflict with "freedom of the
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press" and would also be unconstitutional.
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As American citizens, we have a duty to respect and obey the Constitution
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whether or not we agree with it. Therefor, if the most patriotic person
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were to try any of the above, I would consider them unamerican and so should
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you. The constitution was written in order to protect the public from the
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situations above. If we allow these situations to occur without a fight, we
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are just as unamerican as the people instigating the problem.
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Aside from the constitution, there are other factors as to why information
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must be free. The answer to this is simple. When information is not free,
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it is being used against someone. When it comes to knowledge, we must be
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entirely Communist with it. Do you really believe that someone else should
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have the right to know something when you do not? Nothing good has ever come
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out of censorship. A perfect example is Nazi Germany. With the use of
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censorship, Hitler managed to keep much of the German public unaware of what
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was actually being done to the Jews and of Germany's decline in the war. As
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a result, the German public continued to support him because they were not
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aware of anything wrong. As a result, the outlawing of knowledge is only
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done to take advantage of people.
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If you still do not agree, closely examine all of the people that have
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ever proposed the idea of outlawing information. Every single one of them
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has had some kind of agenda which normally involves power. In every case,
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the person pushing for censorship over-exaggerates and warns the public about
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an evil group of people using some kind of information to do wrong. This
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"moral" figure then claims that the only way to protect the public is to
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censor the information the evil group is using. While pushing to censor the
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information, the "moral" figure also paints a horrible picture of these
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"evil" people which creates a scapegoat. Due to the public's fear of the
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scapegoat, they elect the "moral" figure to office in order to take care of
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the scapegoat. However, the "moral" figure never fixes the problem of the
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scapegoat and repeatedly blames the scapegoat for his failings.
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If you do not believe this scenario, it happens. Hitler used this exact
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method in order to reach his position by scapegoating the Jews. Joe McCarthy
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used this method in order to achieve office by scapegoating the communists.
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Ronald Reagan and George Bush used this method in order to achieve power by
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scapegoating drug users and lower income individuals. Censorship is almost
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ALWAYS used in order to gain power.
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Also, along the lines of corruption, money i what causes most government
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officials to push for censorship. There are many wealthy lobbying groups in
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existence that represent a small minority of the population. In many cases,
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it is church lobbying groups or rich white right-wingers with ignorant views
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giving the money to the government official. These groups tell the government
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official that they will not be given any money if they do not push for the
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lobbying groups best interests. This is utterly corrupt. Once the official
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is voting by the dollar, he no longer cares about the public and should no
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longer be involved in the government. I challenge anyone to find a case
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where money and power has not been the driving force behind the outlawing of
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information. As Americans, we should not pay attention to officials once
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they start speaking of restricting information because we benefit in no way
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from this. Having information illegal is something that can only be used
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against us. I, for one, am not going to trust any power hungry organizations
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(such as the church, tobacco and alcohol industry, etc.) as the keepers of
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"dangerous" information.
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At the moment, it is possible that you will no longer be able to read this
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very document in the future due to the fact that it goes against "moral"
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opinion and the word "fuck" was just printed. Right now, the senate is
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working on passing Senate Bill 314. This will give the government the right
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to fine an individual up to $100,000 and incarcerate them for two years if
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they write e-mail or any other computer form of communication that contains
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"obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent" material.
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I said before that the Orwellian factor was not a strong argument and that
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most people would blow it off. But it seems as if 1984 is happening. Just
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think about it. You could be fined $100,000 dollars and thrown in jail for
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two years if you say "fuck" in e-mail. This would not be a good thing and
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even some of the most "moral" citizens would agree that these punishments are
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harsh. There are many petitions you can sign against Bill 314 on the net.
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One is available over the World Wide Web at http://www.phantom.com/~slowdog/.
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Also remember that this bill does not only affect America. Due to the fact
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that it deals with the Internet, it affects the whole world.
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Information must be free because it is possible to do more damage by
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having it outlawed. Most of the REAL crimes of this century were able to be
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committed due to censorship. Also, what gives a person the right to think
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that they should have the right to know something while the masses cannot.
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Also, outlawing information is the same as pissing on the Constitution. I am
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not going to allow people to disrespect the one piece of work designed solely
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to protect me. Finally, the outlawing of information will not make the
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information disappear. Instead of blaming crimes on the availability of
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information, it is time we start blaming the individuals who break the laws
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instead. Do not let people deprive you of your rights.
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Keep information free!
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|=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=|
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| _____ Call Goat Blowers Anonymous for the LATEST HOE! _____ |
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| 6/ ^..^ (215) 750 - 0392 ^..^ \9 |
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| \_____(oo) This Issues Featured Support Board is: (oo)_____/ |
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| WW WW k0dE aB0dE/Metalland Southwest [Phrack/cDc] WW WW |
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| (713) 39 - K0DES |
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| ...the kings of modern goofiness... |
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|=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=|
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Copyright (c) 1994 HoE Publications and Mr. Sandman. #69 -> 04/12/95
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All rights Reserved.
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