ietf-asrg
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [Asrg] AOL vs the Internet -- Are they opting out?

2003-07-28 19:54:47
On Sat, Jul 26, 2003 at 02:24:38PM -0400, 
asrg(_at_)bobf(_dot_)frankston(_dot_)com wrote
The responses I got (only 2) remind me of the concept that free speech
is only allowed as long as you don't abuse it. For this list I must
point translate this phrase to point out that restricting free speech
to what is allowed ain't no free speech. It's heartening to see the
reaction in Hong Kong to the attempts to make sure they don't get
too much freedom.

  Tell me... what would your reaction be to a sound-truck going through
your residential neighbourhood at 2:30 AM blaring "HALF-PRICE VIAGRA" ?
Would you rave on about their "freedom of speech" ?

I don't really think I need to respond to the suggestions that
we should limit email to approved messages via approved channels
containing approved content but might as well make a futile attempt.
But I realize this is a religious war between those who know good
from bad as absolutes and those who don't see them as invariants.

  Let's make a deal... I won't tell you what to do, and you don't me
what to do.  I won't tell you that you *MUST BLOCK* the 99% penis-pill
and viagra and porn and toner-cartridge spams that comes from dynamic
IP address ranges, and you don't tell me that I *MUST ACCEPT* the 99%
penis-pill and viagra and porn and toner-cartridge spams that comes from
dynamic IP address ranges.

I don't want an ISP and I must not be required to have an ISP

  I want an ISP and I must not be required to accept the 99% of garbage
that comes from dynamic IP addresses.

As to no HTML -- that only applies to lists of people who eschew
expressive typography.

  I long ago eschewed my 16-colour Crayola set in favour of pen and ink,
but I do not find my expressive ability reduced.  And a question for
you... what exactly is "HTML" anyways ?  Theoretically, there's supposed
to be a standard, somewhere out there.  But companies love standards so
much that everybody wants to have their own.  Ever tried writing
anything more than a simple webpage without employing separate hacks for
Netscape 4.X, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, and Opera ?  Do you *REALLY*
want to see an internet where usenet postings and email are "best viewed
with browser X running plug-in Y at 800 X 600 resolution" ?  And let's
not forget that "the most popular web-browser/email/newsreader" has
an annoying tendency to auto-execute stuff it shouldn't.  Each time
Microsoft plugs one security hole another one seems to pop up.  One nice
thing about text-mode usenet and email clients is that opening
attachments is not an "adventure".

We can kill email and its expressive power in order to save it.

  Doctors occasionally have to amputate gangrenous limbs to save a human
life.  I, unfortunately, had to amputate South Korea, Taiwan, China,
Nigeria, South America, and large chunks of US IP address space out of
my email universe in order to maintain a functioning inbox.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes(_at_)waltdnes(_dot_)org>
Email users are divided into two classes;
1) Those who have effective spam-blocking
2) Those who wish they did

_______________________________________________
Asrg mailing list
Asrg(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/asrg