🚀 go-pugleaf

dfpedro@uswnvg.UUCP (Donn Pedro) writes:

> In article <ygTu33w164w@bluemoon.uucp>, sbrack@bluemoon.uucp (Steven S. Brack
> : 
> :         THe USENet learning curve is fairly steep, but any "problems"
> :         with users' articles should be dealt with promptly.  Sysadmins
> :         would probably have less damage control to do if they provided 
> :         more education before the fact.
> 
> Agreed.  Everyone should read the guide to network news and have a full
> understanding of the site's particular posting policy.

        There are sites on the net that have never formulated a formal
        posting policy.  Are their users free to do as they please?
        And what of sites like ddmi/tygra/Michigan.com, where the admin
        is part of the problem, not the solution?  I don't have any
        answes to these questions, but I think the problem of user
        education is solvable.  The problem of a rogue site probably
        can't be dealt with by anything less than isolation.

> 
> :         Exactly.  There has never been such a thing as absolute free 
> :         speech in America, & as long as news providers, not individual
> :         posters are paying the transport cost, they have a fairly
> :         absolute right to determine what goes over their outgoing
> :         (or even transfer) newsfeed.
> 
> And that is precisely the thing most fail to understand.  If I own
> a machine I can transport what I wish over it.  You can say
> what you wish but I am not obligated to echo it to the world.
> Before you hit 'f' read this.  
> 
> I don't care what you say.  I probobly would echo your words worldwide
> but, I am not obligated to.

        Precisely.  What each site does has always been seen as its own
        baliwick, but when a site does things that affect the entire
        net.community, like running an open telnet server, or sending
        bad news batches, then it ceases to be that site's exclusive
        problem.  What then?



===========================================================================
Steven S. Brack     sbrack@bluemoon.uucp        The Ohio State University
sbrack%bluemoon@nstar.rn.com                        sbrack@isis.cs.du.edu
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