From: owen@autodesk.com (D. Owen Rowley)
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 12:13:19 PST
To: gg@well.sf.ca.us
Subject: Re: Canadian application?
Message-ID: <9311231910.AA28569@lux.YP.acad>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



  > Recently there have been articles & letters in the local gay press
 > complaining about Canadian Customs engaging in censorship by preventing gay
 > publications from entering Canada.  Seems to me this is an ideal case for
 > setting up a special-purpose private encrypted net, and gaining a vocal
 > constituency in our favor. 

Queer people are used to codes and semiotic communication, we are 
pretty good at steganographic social posturing too.
On ething I've found though is a definite trend not to volunteer as guinea
pigs for social agendas beyond attaining the basic rights now denied us.

Oh, and I'm not so sure that a vocal queer constituency is all that
helpfull these days :-)

 > 
 > What I have in mind would be to consult with various publishers in the gay
 > community, toward the end of setting up offices in Vancouver and Toronto
 > which would receive encrypted files from the US which could then be
 > reassembled into printed form for regular press production and distribution
 > within Canada: thereby entirely bypassing Customs and its censorship. 

As I understand it the few Gay-Lesbian bookstores who are commited to the cause
just drive over the border to pick up their shipments, and then smuggle them
back.

besides introducing a doubling effect on the physical production process
would probably not be worth the expense for that market when simpler
methods suffice.

 > 
 > I'm guessing that they'll probably want to use an authorised/licensed system
 > such as ViaCrypt, and wonder whether that can handle magazine and book
 > production type files, which may be text and/or graphics, full color, layout
 > details, and so on. 

This could be like waving a red flag in the face of a psychotic bull.
Giving the Gummint an excuse to claim probable cause due to contraband
sexually explicit material just doesn't sound like a good idea to me?
 
 > If anyone out there is interested in helping with this; preferably if you're
 > in the San Francisco Bay Area, email gg@well.sf.ca.us.
 
There are plenty of issues regarding abuse of this network by psychopathic
e-terrorist, most of 'em directly analogous to this lists current
controversial bad-boy. I for one, would much rather see some attention to
methods of dealing with that!

LUX ./. owen