jwalsh@bbn.com (Jamie Walsh) (12/06/88)
The actions of Jonathan Richmond remind me of a scene in a Mel Brooks or
Woody Allen movie, where when a plane full of Jews is told their flight
will be delayed, they stand up and start chanting "Never again! Never
again!"
When Richmond couldn't drum up sufficient support of his "no offensive
jokes" proposal through the proper channels on the network, and finding he
couldn't put company pressure on Brad because Brad was his own employer, he
decided to play net.thought.police by taking it to the newspapers and
university officials (and according to yesterday's Boston Herald, to the
FBI as well.)
From yesterday's Boston Herald :
"Richmond, 30, said he has contacted the FBI and the Jewish
Anti-Defamation League to help him get a computer network called USENET
either censored or off the air."
It is a pity that Richmond was so busy screaming "Never again" that he
failed to realized that he has not only jeoparized the feed of
rec.humor.funny, but the feed of all the non-computer related groups,
including soc.culture.jewish
-- jamie (jwalsh@cc6.bbn.com
!harvard!bbn!jwalsh)
"There's a seeker born every minute."was@pbhyf.PacBell.COM (J. Wasik) (12/06/88)
In article <33065@bbn.COM> jwalsh@cc6.bbn.com(Jamie Walsh) wrote: >From yesterday's Boston Herald : > "Richmond, 30, said he has contacted the FBI and the Jewish > Anti-Defamation League to help him get a computer network called USENET > either censored or off the air." When a single "obsessed" individual embarks on a self-serving crusade to censor us all, which is certainly the case here, then one must do more than only *hope* that reason will prevail. Yes, the F.B.I will recognize this Richmond character for the Yo-yo that he is, something that the media, forever sensationalist, often fails to do. We cannot wait until one day we log on to our computers and see a series of "deleting bogus newsgroups" message. The time is now! Visible support for freedom of speech, e.i. Brad Templeton, has to be clearly and articulately expressed to those that matter, such as the Waterloo University and the Boston Globe. -- Joe Wasik - PacBell, 2600 Camino Ramon, 4e750, San Ramon, CA 94583 415-823-2422 was@pbhyf.PacBell.COM or {att,bellcore,sun,ames,pyramid}!pacbell!was Disclaimer: "Hear me now and believe me later"
tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney) (12/06/88)
Does anyone happen to know what offenses Richmond hopes to interest the authorities in? Perhaps unfortunately, the dissemination of anti-Semitic and other racist literature is perfectly legal in the United States, and the only authorities he mentioned were American. In Canada, there are laws against the dissemination of "hate literature"; even there, I doubt that jokes, even stupid, unfunny, offensive and pointless jokes like these, would qualify for prosecution. The press already has most people who've heard of bulletin boards convinced that only white supremacists and child molesters use them; we need this kind of publicity like a hole in the head. It may be time for the racist-joke addicts to lay low temporarily on pragmatic grounds. (I'd prefer permanently, but let's be realistic....) -- Tim Maroney, Consultant, Eclectic Software, sun!hoptoad!tim "The negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world. The children and the aged and infirm work not at all, and yet have all the comforts and neccessaries of life provided for them." -- George Fitzhugh, CANNIBALS ALL! OR, SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS, 1857