Am I missing something? A paper company sells paper. It, unlike
"Assholes on Line" management, doesn't review what individual people
write on it. Of course if you are a stupid paper manufacturer with a
"conscience" you could stop selling paper all together. Or, you could
write something like a software licensing requirement and only lease the
paper, and then only if it is used for pleasant and uncontroversial
thoughts. Deny all legal responsibility for what your customers write on
your paper. Maybe that will stop those nasty people from expressing
their noxious thoughts. Still, if like a gun manufacturer, some dimbulb
uses your product to do something nasty, the government may sue you.
Thomas Jefferson is probably puking in his grave if the psychics have
contacted him with what our beloved country has descended to.
Meanwhile, following your logic, I guess it is best for all us "freedom
of speech" types to start our own ISP. Of course, since some claim it's
"legal" to censor electronic communications, companies like AOL will
automatically deny you access to their members in order to save them
from bad thoughts. Now do you think we need it to be an absolute right
to express whatever rotten, nasty, clean, or loving thought we might
have made part of a new Constitution in case the idiots can't see this
is a already a right, or should be, provided us under our current
Constitution?
Will Echelon start flagging messages that use that deadly phrase
"freedom of speech"? I think the damn theater is on fire, and I'm about
to shout "Fire" in the theater. Is that OK? Oh, another wild thought.
Does your company have a right to tell you what you can't say if you use
"their" phone at work? What if you bring your own phone from home? Do
they have the right to monitor your phone calls? If so, should this
right be denied them? I think that "freedom of speech" is such an
important part of what makes the USA special, that these should be made
your absolute right under a "revised" Constitution.
Tom Roach
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Burnes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Thomas B. Roach <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2000 09:55 AM
Subject: Re: AOL and "hate speech"
> While I agree with Tom that AOL sucks rocks etc etc, you paper analogy
> isn't quite correct -- or at least its incomplete. If I sell you
paper
> and find out your printing racist drivel with it, it's perfectly
> within my rights to stop selling you paper.
>
> Of course you could always buy paper from someone else or make
> your own.
>
> jim
