TK0JUT1@mvs.cso.niu.edu (06/26/91)
> [Moderator's Note: While it is true Thrifty Tel's tactics are extreme, > and of questionable legality by USA standards, we should note that in > countries with 'neandrathal' schedules of punishment (i.e. Saudi > Arabia, where public floggings, beheadings, and amputation of body > parts appropriate to the crime committed -- shoplifting, sexual > assault, etc -- are routine events), the crime rate is *extremely* > low. If Thrifty Tel doesn't break Some People of their Bad Habits, I > don't know what will. PAT] Not a good analogy! We don't live in Saudi Arabia, we live in a democracy with constitutional protections. Saudi Arabia also lacks the poverty, population density, and other "social problems" endemic in most industrialized societies that contribute to higher crime rates. By contrast, in addition to suppressing "crime," that culture also suppresses (sometimes in the Draconian ways Pat mentions) freedoms that we take for granted. Women's activities are tightly controlled, reducing opportunity for sexual assault, but domestic violence and spouse abuse are reportedly exceptionally high. But, it's not illegal. There is also some question about the "low" crime rate, because the system of recording and prosecuting does not make comparative analysis easy. Respect for law begins with respect for that which law enforces. As it has been described, Thrifty-Tel sounds like vigilante extortionists. One way to break people of bad habits is through systematic and visible education about cyber-ethics, beginning early. In addition, *fair* and *just* enforcement of predatory law with sactions that include options to incarceration is another. Officially allowing private extortion is not a way to encourage respect for law, and only contributes to public cynicism that encourages disregard of it. Islamic law is the antithesis of our Constitutional democracy, and TT's policies resemble the former rather than the latter. Jim Thomas