From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@krypton.mankato.msus.edu>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 13:12:24 +0800
To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject: Re: Surf-filter lists
In-Reply-To: <v01510103ae11a1bfffcd@[204.62.128.229]>
Message-ID: <Pine.ULT.3.91.960717142418.2660A-100000@krypton.mankato.msus.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


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On Tue, 16 Jul 1996, Declan McCullagh wrote:

> More to the point, as I wrote at the end of the original CWD, it's a
> bait-and-switch maneuver. Go after porn, they say, but the censor political
> information.

ARGH!  I've been keeping quiet about this for a while, but I thing I 
gotta say something before I throttle my Zip drive...

<rant>A Private organization cannot "censor" anything.  The fundamental 
definition of the word require some agent of the government take action 
to censor.  To accuse Surf-Watch, net-nanny, AOL, MSU, AT&T, or whatever 
of "censorship" accomplishes nothing except to make us look the 
fool.</rant> 

I agree that the problem with the "bait-and-switch" filtering of net 
materials by these various filtering packages needs to be addressed.  If I 
want to protect my kids from seeing alt.naughty.pictures, I shoudl still 
be able to unfilter political and health speech.  The real problem isn't 
censorship, it's disclosure by the makers of filtering packages about 
what exactly their packages are going to filter for me and my family.  
However, in the upcoming war of filtering packages (and it will get ugly) 
trade secrets are going to make any company hesitant to reveal what it is 
they are filtering and what criteria they are using to determine if 
something qualifies.


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____           Robert A. Hayden      <=> hayden@krypton.mankato.msus.edu
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