evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) (02/08/90)
There are a few points people have raised in postings and private mail
that are worth dealing with:
BOUNCED MAIL
Since the vote was called less than a week ago, more than 300 votes have
arrived OK. I have also seen about a dozen postings of bounced mail, which
bothers me. Based on one posting, it seems that some mail going through our
Bitnet forwarder has been flopping around there.
Please don't distress. Try
erotica@telly.uucp
or
uunet!telly!erotica
And thanks for voting. Remember, please, to state YES or NO in the
subject line as appropriate.
ANONYMOUS POSTINGS
Though the group is to be moderated, I do not wish to deny readers the
ability to reply by e-mail to postings they feel strongly about. I also
do not want to be on the hook when some author finds an illegally copied
"anonymous" post of their work.
I am not at all opposed to the use of confidential pseudonyms that are
linked to real identifiable people. I would appreciate if another site
somewhere could maintain a list of such aliases. Any volunteers?
"BAD TASTE" POSTINGS
I am unsure of how to deal with with postings such a "Cindy's Torment",
which may be valid literature to some, but can singlehandedly get this
group yanked at some sites. I do not want to inhibit or censor, yet I
would like to give sites that don't want such material a way to cleanly
opt-out.
Here are a couple of options I've considered:
- Send the stuff out with warnings in the Keyword line, or a brief
preamble;
- Send the stuff out with a preamble and rot13;
- Post a message giving excerpts, asking sites that want the posting to
explicitly request it by mail.
My own preference is for the middle route, which does not censor, but
gives ample warning to those who may be offended by the subject matter.
I am open to other ideas.
GROUP NAME
Three comments have brought up the power of the word erotica to draw
the attention of prudish bean counters. It has been suggested that the
group be called rec.arts.eros, which while still descriptive, does not
scream out (as much) on a casual view of newsgroup names.
I am receptive to using the name rec.arts.eros. I am only sorry that it
came up now, rather than during the discussion period.
The new name appears to do no damage, yet may allow some sites to carry
the group, which may have red-flagged the word erotica. Voting will
continue in the same manner, but if there is not much opposition or
controversy over the issue, the actual newgroup message will be for the
name rec.arts.eros. If anyone would change their vote based on the new
name, let me know.
This is not something I want to start an argument over. I'm also in no
mood to restart the voting over a subtle name change.
--
Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
evan@telly.on.ca / {uunet!attcan,utzoo}!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504
If they call it WordPerfect, why is it on revision five?dsill@ophiuchi.nswc.navy.mil (Dave Sill) (02/09/90)
In article <25D18E58.3C58@telly.on.ca>, evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) writes: > > - Send [questionable] stuff out with a preamble and rot13; That should be sufficient. > I am receptive to using the name rec.arts.eros. I am only sorry that it > came up now, rather than during the discussion period. Gag, don't do that. Rec.arts.erotica is the *right* name. Dave Sill (dsill@relay.nswc.navy.mil)
aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (a.e.mossberg) (02/09/90)
Re: method of possibly questionable stuff.. ROT13 is fine. People can't complain if they've been warned and gone to the trouble of un-rot-ing it. Re: name change to rec.arts.eros I agree with dsill -- rec.arts.erotica is the correct name to use, and I'm inclined to say "let the prudes cut themselves off" (err... I just noticed an unintentional pun in there) but I won't change my vote for the new name. aem -- a.e.mossberg / aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu / aem@umiami.BITNET / Pahayokee Bioregion We oppose any form of intervention in Central America, including aid to the contras in Nicaragua. - United Steelworkers of America
mesard@bbn.com (Wayne Mesard) (02/10/90)
evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) writes: >"BAD TASTE" POSTINGS > >I am unsure of how to deal with with postings such a "Cindy's Torment", >which may be valid literature to some, but can singlehandedly get this >group yanked at some sites. I do not want to inhibit or censor... Tell me, if someone submitted a detective story, would you post it? Of course not. It would be inappropriate for the newsgroup. Similarly, if someone submits a story about torture, it should not be posted to r.a.e. Just because some people don't know the difference between sex and violence doesn't make it censorship. Wayne((keyword *) consent );
phil@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (02/10/90)
Stories of violence go in rec.arts.violent of whatever. Being as there is not such newsgroup I can see, I guess no one cares for stories of violence. --Phil Howard, KA9WGN-- <phil@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (02/10/90)
> > I am receptive to using the name rec.arts.eros. I am only sorry that it > > came up now, rather than during the discussion period. > Gag, don't do that. Rec.arts.erotica is the *right* name. I've already sent mail withdrawing my YES vote if the name is changed. While rec.arts.eros is still acceptable, it wasn't the name I voted on. It's not really kosher to change the name of the group in mid-vote. I expect that this change will have little impact, though, and the group will still pass or fail on the merits of its charter. -- _--_|\ Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. <peter@ficc.uu.net>. / \ \_.--._/ Xenix Support -- it's not just a job, it's an adventure! v "Have you hugged your wolf today?" `-_-'
hougen@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu (Dean Hougen) (02/11/90)
Will rec.arts.erotica (or eros, if you want, who cares?) be censored? Of course, that was the idea of having it moderated. Only stories. No discussion. No flames. Just stories. But beyond limiting the content to only stories, will the group be censored by the moderator? It will if he tries to label "offensive" stories, or ROT-13 them, or even if he simply tries to cut out stories which do not fit his definition of erotica (e.g. the detective story example previously mentioned). Anything done in an attempt to limit the readership of a particular story that is not done to the rest of the stories will effectively (perhaps not completely) censor that story. One wo/man's erotica is another wo/man's offensive trash. And who can say whether a story is a detective story or a subtle erotic message? And what happens if the moderator slips-up and misses the hidden "offensive" message in a particular story? IMHO, the moderator should limit himself to cutting out only non-stories. That way the authors determine the content of the newsgroup, and those who are easily offended are forwarned that they are reading at their own risk. You could ROT-13 all the stories just to make sure no one read something offensive (god forbid) by accident. But don't let one person, no matter how much you may agree with him or her, define erotica. Dean Hougen -- "Move over rover, let Jimi take over." - Jimi Hendrix
dveditz@dbase.A-T.COM (Dan Veditz) (02/15/90)
hougen@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu (Dean Hougen) writes: > Will rec.arts.erotica (...) be censored? A good moderator will mail back confirmations/rejections, and hopefully some reasons for the rejections. If you think the moderator is doing a poor job you can discuss it in the nearest unmoderated group (alt.sex.et.al) or here in news.groups. "Censorship" is quite a bit too strong for what I've seen proposed. -Dan Veditz {uunet,cepu}!ashtate!dveditz dveditz@dbase.A-T.com