jbuck@epimass.EPI.COM (Joe Buck) (06/02/88)
In article <2134@rtech.UUCP> daveb@rtech.UUCP (It takes a clear mind to make it) writes: >There is discussion of site responsibility for postings, particularly >from commercial USENET service providers like Portal and the Well. Historically, the net has had far more trouble from university students than it has ever had from public access sites. Secondly, because most public access sites bill their clients and have their actual names, it's much easier to track down the identity of a public access user on the rampage than a university student run wild (who may be using someone else's account or be a cracker). Public access sites are sensitive about their images. As a result, the people on public access sites that cause controversy are often booted very quickly -- even when that amounts to censorship. We've survived all the university sites on the net; I have no problem with the public access sites. JJ could just have easily done his postings from a university; from a private company he'd be risking his job, but someone who's just been terminated under hostile circumstances might do something like that. >But there sure seems to be a growing feeling that something should be >done. And many of the proposed "solutions" are idiotic. Have the IRS, the postal inspector, etc., patrol Usenet and stamp out wrongdoing? Right. That would be the death of Usenet. Mr/Ms Sys Admin, you stand accused of importing pornography/libel/trade secrets across state lines. How do you plead? Many of the technical solutions create worse problems. The "squelch" message, for example. A moderately talented high-school student could shut down an arbitrary user or a site completely with that one. Any control message can be forged -- by anyone. What needs to happen is for people to stop talking about JJ. He was booted almost immediately from Portal; the anti-JJ flames were at least 10 times the volume of the JJ postings. So: 1). DO NOTHING! No net reform is called for based on JJ's action. If there had been a limit on cross-posting, he would have posted MORE messages, since his clear intent was to post in every group. 2). Accept that fact that a jerk will come along from time to time. Complain to the site administrator. If you see a net flame war developing, restrain yourself from adding to the noise. 3). Accept that fact that Usenet operates based on the good will and cooperation of its users. No technical modification will get around this basic fact. We can't fix it. -- - Joe Buck {uunet,ucbvax,pyramid,<smart-site>}!epimass.epi.com!jbuck jbuck@epimass.epi.com Old Arpa mailers: jbuck%epimass.epi.com@uunet.uu.net