From: Corey Bridges <corey@netscape.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 09:33:57 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: "This post is G-Rated"
Message-ID: <199601252200.OAA28468@urchin.netscape.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Rated N for Noise (perhaps much to the consternation of Tim).

At 11:18 AM 1/25/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote:
>(Note that the MPAA movie rating system is _not_ run by the government, nor
>is it even "suggested" by government...though I don't deny that the movie
>theater owners adopted the MPAA ratings to forestall  talked-of government
>actions. But of course movies pass through the chokepoint of distribution,
>and time usually exists to rate them. Usenet posts would of course not fit
>this model.)

I don't know the particulars of how the movie rating system came into being,
but I know about the last few years' government flack about "unsuitable"
material on TV. A couple years back, Senator Paul Simon (D-Illinois) warned
that Congress would use the law to compel the entertainment industry if it
did not voluntarily adjust television content. He said, "If there is not
some sort of positive response by the industry, we are headed for some sort
of legislative response." Amusingly enough, he also admitted that he would
prefer industry restrictions on artistic freedoms because legally mandated
limits to free speech would probably be ruled unconstitutional. 

Claiming that such "voluntary compliance" crap is not censorship is
ridiculous. Not that you were implying that, Tim--I just want people to
understand that this is the same thing as a mugger claiming that, since he
didn't actually shoot his victim, the wallet he received was a gift rather
than stolen goods.

Corey Bridges
Security Documentation
Netscape Communications Corporation
home.netscape.com/people/corey
415-528-2978