From: "Igor Chudov @ home" <ichudov@algebra.com>
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 10:09:10 +0800
To: cypherpunks@manifold.algebra.com
Subject: Re: CFV: moderate sci.cryonics -- I vote NO
Message-ID: <199705200159.UAA05630@manifold.algebra.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Lewis McCarthy (lmccarth@cs.umass.edu) wrote in <3377FA31.167E@cs.umass.edu>:
* Charles Platt writes:
* > I feel it's unfortunate that the 
* > charter was worded to exclude anonymous postings, but clearly this 
* > news group does need to be moderated, and I believe that Keith will 
* > do so fairly and openly.
* 
* That's all well and good, but the CFV is a referendum (in part) on the 
* particular charter that appears in the CFV, not on an alternate policy
* that purportedly may be followed by the moderator. Unfairly applied

That is correct.

The promises by the proposed moderator are even more suspicious given
that:

	This future moderator PROMISES TO VIOLATE HIS OWN CHARTER.

The charter is absolutely clear in respect to what is not allowed:

Charter> Unacceptable messages include personal attacks, messages 
Charter> posted without a valid sender address, and any message not 
Charter> pertaining to the topics above.

(see 

http://xp5.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?recnum=5944883&server=db97p2x&CONTEXT=864091788.16601&hitnum=11

for the charter and ballot)


* written rules have a real chance of being challenged, whereas with 
* unwritten rules there's much less hope of receiving fair treatment. 
* Overly broad restrictions, like the one in the CFV regarding messages 
* from unreplyable senders, are a boon for selective enforcement. 

I repeat again, in my opinion, there is no valid reason for any
moderated discussion newsgroup to ever forbid anonymous and pseudonymous
postings. Such restrictions destroy the value that usenet newsgroups
have.

Correspondently, I will strongly oppose any proposal that restricts
posters ability to post anonymously.

Presence of such provision in the charter is a strong indication
that the proponent is a control freak.

* It's been a couple of years since I voted on a newsgroup proposal, but
* I'll be voting NO on this sci.cryonics reorganization. Get back to me
* if the charter is reworded s.t. the moderator is directed to judge a
* message primarily based on its _content_  rather than its _sender_.

Could not agree more!

* CFV pointer: Message-ID <863077501.7020@isc.org>, posted to the usual
* places on May 8 by David Bostwick
* -- 
* Lewis    http://www.cs.umass.edu/~lmccarth/lmkey.asc   "And all the 
* science, I don't understand; it's just my job, eight days a week..."