From: dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM)
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 05:02:08 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Censorship on cypherpunks?, from The Netly News
In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.3.95.961112093119.7009B-100000@well.com>
Message-ID: <L8yBXD55w165w@bwalk.dm.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Declan's done an excellent journalistic job. I understand that because of the
space limitations he couldn't quote everything that everyone told him, so one
small point in his article might be misinterpreted by a casual reader:

Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> writes:
>    though, he's almost notorious. His .sig file, for instance, proudly
Why "almost"? :-)
>    points out that he's a former Kook of the Month; Vulis was also a
There's no such thing as "former" KOTM, Declan. That's a lifetime achievement!
>    Net-legend and even has the alt.fan.dimitri-vulis newsgroup named
>    after him.
(I newgrouped a.f.d-v myself, actually. But it does get traffic :-)
>    daily messages that came from Vulis's keyboard. The list is on
>    Gilmore's machine and he can do what he wants with it; he can moderate
>    the postings, he can censor material, he can shut the whole thing
>    down. By kicking off an offending user, a list owner merely exercises
>    his property right. There's no government involvement, so the First
>    Amendment doesn't apply.

I told Declan that agree 100% - John Gilmore has the right to do anything
he likes with his private mailing list. The 1st Amendment does not apply.

However censorship needn't be government-imposed.

>        For his part, Gilmore calls removing the Russian mathematician "an
>    act of leadership." He says: "It said we've all been putting up with

An act of censorship, an act of cowardice, an act of Hitler-like leadership...

>    this guy and it's time to stop. You're not welcome here... It seemed
>    to me that a lot of the posts on cypherpunks were missing the mark.
>    They seemed to have an idea that their ability to speak through my
>    machine was guaranteed by the Constitution."

If John Gilmore ascribes this opinion to me, then he's lying outright.

---

Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps