rhorn@infinet.UUCP (Rob Horn) (09/04/87)
Recent events in Panama have shown that facsimile equipment (fax) has become an important part of the free press. When the Panamanian government closed the opposition press the local and international business community organized an independent free press. Overseas offices fax important news clippings to a list of Panamanian businesses. The overseas offices are coordinated to avoid duplication so that within minutes dozens of Panamanian offices get each article. The local offices then use office copiers and distribute the news locally. The estimated equivalent print run is somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 issues, and most important international news is being distributed. The government cannot disable facsimile and copiers without effectively severing their ties to the Western economy. This would destroy the country and this is too high a price for the government to pay. Since virtually all international businesses have the equipment needed selective confiscation or monitoring is also impossible. Printing presses and copiers have long been restricted by totalitarian dictatorships. Now facsimile machines must be added to their lists. People have conjectured in the past about the impact of computer communications, but not mentioned facsimile. With an estimated 500,000 machines installed in the United States they are significantly less common than computers. But facsimile can be both computer generated and handle pictures, handwritten, and printed material. Rob Horn