giles@ucf-cs.UUCP (Bruce Giles) (01/14/84)
I remember coming across an article (I think in *Newsweek*) shortly after the imposition of martial law in Poland that Poland required samples of a typewriter's output (i.e. aAbBcCdD...) be submitted to the state police, that all typewriters be registered with the state police, and that the penalty for an unregistered typewriter was something pretty extreme, like 10-20 years at hard labor. This article was consistent with several other things I had come across earlier, primarily with regard to the Soviet Union, but references elude me. In most of the rest of the world, of course, the question is somewhat academic as there is effectively no one who has the resources to obtain a typewriter, the knowledge to use it (I'm ducking now on that one, I can see comments coming already), and the desire to oppose the government. (I.e. bite the hand that feeds them). Perhaps they are not contraband in the sense that possession is illegal, period; but I have the distinct impression that they are definitely `controlled substances' in every socialist, authoritarian, or [whatever the other type is] country. Food for thought: I was looking through the Code of Federal Regulations a while back and it appears that the government has the authority to confiscate every ham radio in the country if it wants to. It was some- where near the front of the section on the Amateur Radio Service, and I may have just misread it, but you may want to check it out. After all, in a very real sense there is no difference between confiscating typewriters because they can be used to criticize the government and confiscating ham radios because they are an uncontrolled communications resource. Bruce Giles --------------------------------------------- UUCP: decvax!ucf-cs!giles cs-net: giles@ucf ARPA: giles.ucf-cs@Rand-Relay Snail: University of Central Florida Dept of Math, POB 26000 Orlando Fl 32816 ---------------------------------------------
mjg@ecsvax.UUCP (01/15/84)
I can tell one place where TV detectives come to your door and threaten prsecution - thats England!. Over there you have to pay a licence fee per household to operate at TV - thats what finances the BBC and makes it independant of Government handouts and commercials - say 10 million housholds paying around $75 per year brings in enough to run 2 TV channels 4 national radio channels and many local stations. Of course there are lots of people who would like to get away without paying so the Post Office, whose job it is to collect and administer the licence scheme has for years had detector vans of increasing sophistication to detect unlicensed users. They have it to a fine art where they can tell what channel you are watching and what corner of the room the TV is in!. 1984 came a long time ago in Britain as far as TV is concerned!. - Mike Gingell, Raleigh, NC (ex UK!) ...mcnc!ecsvax!mjg
abs@rdin.UUCP (Andrew Siegel) (01/19/84)
Concerning the recent mention of a detective searching for illegal viewers of channel 44, has anyone ever heard of any cases of this "TV detective" actually coming to someone's door and threatening prosecution? It seems to me that the viewer need never admit that he/she was watching channel 44 (or whatever), and that the detective could never prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a court of law that someone had been illegally watching channel 44 without entering the house (violation of constitutional rights of privacy), which a private detective has absolutely no authority to do. I would assume that the detective depends on scaring the viewer into admitting verbally that he/she was watching illegally, and would use this verbal confession to support any court case. I was also intrigued by the statement made by Bruce Giles that typewriters are contraband in most of the world. Is this true? Could you elaborate, Bruce? Is there any sort of "UNIX discussion net" on the air in the Northern New Jersey or NYC area, perhaps on a 2-meter or 220 repeater? If so, I would love to participate. If not, anyone interested in starting one? Andrew Siegel, N2CN Resource Dynamics, Inc. New York, NY philabs!rdin!abs