From: blanc <blancw@accessone.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 1995 15:13:31 +0800
To: "cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: RE: last straw (or Possible Developments re Censorship)
Message-ID: <01BAD6FD.B8FBF560@blancw.accessone.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


From: Dr. Dimitri Vulis

And now comes the *point*:

There's much information on CompuServe that cannot be accessed from the outside.
One example is the very informative National Computer Security Association's
forum. ...[etc.]
...................................................................................................


Aside from the obvious implications to liberty,  of the backing down from standing up (!) to the demand for self-censorship, I was thinking about other possible developments:

Since, as 'Dr. Dimitri' mentions, CompuServe offers some info which is not available from other sources - and this info is often quite useful/valuable to business enterprises, such that they and other individuals would not be too keen on abandoning these immediately just for the principle of the thing - it could develop that those who are willing and can afford it, will end up "supporting", or getting services from, different providers based on the particular services which they offer.

This could represent a partial solution (in my mind, at least, not being inclined toward blanket censorship of all things discomfitting to my sensibilities) to the matter of there being free-radical electrons "out there" existing in the form & shape of various degrees of sexual permutations:  

.  Those concerned that their children may innocently surf over to alt.binaries.naughty.nude.x-rated.pictures and see alarming truths about adult behavior, and don't want to purchase the available filtering software, could subscribe to CompuServe and rest assured that their children would only have access to safe, industrial-strength info on that account.

.  Those wishing want to discuss their sexually-related personal problems, or who are pleased to just look at/talk about sex et al,  could continue do so through their subscription to the adult bbs-es or local ISPs providing uncensored access to all newsgroups.

It could develop that large companies providing internet access will seek to distinguish/identify themselves (as they are tending to do already) between the pablum-feeding family-types like AOL, or corporate/business-types like CompuServe, or free-for alls like local ISPs.   Such developments of course would depend on a tolerance for the existence of those un-specialized carriers which aren't adverse to transmitting controversial, "sensitive" content.   

These divisions among services might still not be acceptable to States and Nations & other 'busybodies', but the resistance to such developments would only serve to more explicitly define the problem;  it could make prominent the real issue of people's attitudes, fears, and expectations concerning sex & human nature, and of the obstacles in the way of achieving personal responsibility regarding these (among other things).

    ..
Blanc