From: comp-academic-freedom-talk@eff.org
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 12:54:56 -0400
Subject: Abstract of CAF-News 02.10
Newsgroups: comp.society

This is an abstract for the most recent "Computers and Academic
Freedom News" (CAF-News). Information about CAF-News followings the
abstract. The full CAF-News is available via email. Send email
to archive-server@eff.org. Include the line:
  send caf-news cafv02n10

--- begin abstract ---
[Week ending March 1, 1992

========================== KEY ================================
The words after the numbers are a short PARAPHRASES of the
articles, NOT AN OBJECTIVE SUMMARY and not necessarily my opinion.
===============================================================

Note 1 concerns the limits a university may place on free speech.

1. According to a short item in the Chicago Tribune, some at the
University of Wisconsin want to draft new, narrower "hate speech" rule
to replace the rule that was struck down by the district federal
court. The author of the original restrictions says that he isn't sure
the rule is needed anymore.
    <1992Feb26.165417.12215@eff.org>

Note 2 suggests that obscenity is in the eye of the beholder.

2. (A user:) If anything is obscene, surely it is discussing new ways
of systemically killing people.  Why do people who are not troubled by
that get so upset at groups which discuss new ways of finding pleasure?
    <1992Feb26.232807.4485@nntp.hut.fi>

Note 3 discusses arguments presented to justify a Swiss Network's
decision not to carry certain newsgroups.

3. What article of law allows someone to file a lawsuit against the
network if it is carrying material they do not like?  If such a law
exists, does it apply equally to email?  If the network does censor
newsgroups, does that imply that it fully supports the information in
the remaining newsgroups?
    <1992Feb24.173533@lglsun.epfl.ch>

Note 4 discusses a student who created an "alt" newsgroup.  The news
administrator on the machine he uses claims the user forged the
message creating the group, and refuses to carry the group.

4. "Since you put your name on the post it wasn't a forgery, but your
news admin is still free to consider it an improper newgroup."
    <1992Feb28.100229.27960@ms.uky.edu>

Note 5 discusses the history of altnet, the set of "alt" groups.

5. The alt groups were created outside of the USENET guidelines and
propagated by alternate uucp links.  One force for change was an
attempt to carry a political group in a technical forum because that
forum was better distributed.  Another was that some system
administrators would not carry certain newsgroups no matter what the
name.
    <3198@ecicrl.ocunix.on.ca>

Note 6 suggests that informing anyone who will listen about the true
nature of controversial news groups may forestall future problems.

6. (An administrator:)  If a reporter or legislator asks about the
net, I tell them about the huge variety of newsgroups from the
scientific and technical to those discussing controversial issues.
"I've never had a bad reaction to this presentation..."
    <11169@ns-mx.uiowa.edu>

Note 7 reacts to a proposed policy on calculator use during exams.

7. The proposed policy raises due process concerns.  I have a simpler
solution: I do not allow the use of such devices. "The reasoning is
simple: Programmers should be proficient, personally, in computation."
    <caf.talk.2.28.92.abc@BRL.MIL>

Notes 8 and 9 concern a system administrator's policy of acting
quickly in case of rules violations.  Often a student's account is
restricted before the student is notified of the violation.

8. (A student:)  On a Friday afternoon I discovered all my accounts at
the University Of Aston in Birmingham, England had been disabled.  I
was told that something I was running was congesting the network.  To
sort things out I needed to meet with the head of the department, by
appointment, on the following Tuesday.
    <1992Feb26.192151.6435@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>

9.  This happens at Berkeley every so often.  Usually, the student can
get his account back by talking to the system administrator.  I
sympathize with the administrator, but it would not occur to the
university to lock a student out of his/her dorm without prior
warning.
    <ohbp8INNr9i@agate.berkeley.edu>

Note 10 rebuts the claim that students have little cause for complaint
if an administrator restricts a student's account for non-academic uses.

10. (A student:) I pay extra money for my account.  Suppose I rent a
car.  I take it for a ride in the country.  Does the rental company
have a right to disable the car, and leave a note saying, "Your engine
has been taken out and the locks on the doors have been changed since
you went for a ride in the country that was totally unrelated to the
business in which you rented this car."  No good comes from system
administrators being harsh to their users.
    <S8759859.92Feb29151649@titan.ucc.umass.edu>

Notes 11 and 12 discuss liability for the electronic transmittal of
information.  Specifically, abortion information may not be
distributed in Ireland.

11. (A discussion of the incident in which a pregnant 14 year-old girl
was not permitted to leave the country to seek an abortion in
England.)  "The computer/censorship issue related to the fact that
only crosspostings to the group _talk.abortion_ appear here."  If a
posting to such a group had information on how to procure an abortion,
are we any more liable than a library with an English telephone
directory which has the phone number of an abortion clinic?
    <1992Feb24.222848.12187@maths.tcd.ie>

12. In fact, you can get the banned information by calling Northern
Ireland, or Boston, Massachusetts.  Are they going to prosecute the
Irish PTT, or British Telecom, or Ma Bell?
    <1992Feb26.165136.9723@wetware.com>

- Paul]



--- end   abstract ---

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Disclaimer: This CAF-News abstract was compiled by a guest editor or a
regular editor (Paul Joslin, Elizabeth M. Reid, Adam C. Gross, or Carl
M. Kadie). It is not an EFF publication. The views an editor expresses
and editorial decisions he or she makes are his or her own.


--
Carl Kadie -- I do not represent EFF; this is just me.
 =kadie@eff.org, kadie@cs.uiuc.edu, or (anonymous) ap.3619@layout.berkeley.edu=