From: jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 18:56:13 -0800 (PST)
To: "Troy M. Barnhart" <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Any Info for Sen. Pressler....
Message-ID: <199611050256.SAA07039@mail.pacifier.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 12:57 PM 11/4/96 -0700, Troy M. Barnhart wrote:

>Due to circumstances I occasionally see and speak 
>w/ Senator Larry Pressler - (Committee Leader)...
>Been talking to him w/ the Burns Bill and such... 
>He wants less gov't. control, but does have "concerns" 
>w/ the garbage...

What does the Burns Bill have to do with "the garbage"?  We're not talking 
about the CDA...


>And, wants to balance the business and private concerns...

Tell him that we get real nervous when someone uses the phrase, "wants to 
balance."  It contains the implicit assumption that the market ("The 
Market") is somehow incapable of providing that "balance."  It also seems to 
assume that the person using the term has the AUTHORITY to "balance" those 
issues.  While senators probably assume that they always have the authority 
to do whatever they want, there is no reason to believe that this should be 
true given the ostensible restrictions of government power in the US 
Constitution.  Since the Internet is really just a large conglomeration of 
private property acting together in cooperation, the government's role should 
be at best quite limited, if not non-existant.


Jim Bell
jimbell@pacifier.com