From: kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie)
Subject: Re: Sysadmin for a Day, was Re: Banned Computer Material 1992
Originator: kadie@eff.org
Organization: The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 00:01:04 GMT

morgan@ms.uky.edu (Wes Morgan) writes:

[...]
>I didn't ask about its effectiveness, I asked how you would handle it.
>Some sysadmins are bluntly told, "Keep Crack/IRC/MUD code off our sys-
>tems"; how should they handle it?  Let's hear some concrete ideas!
[...]

Do you mean how should they handle the risks of Crack or how should
they handle being told bluntly to keep Crack off the system?

Just to inject some information/confusion into the discussion, here
are some library policy excerpts on dangerious material. (They
sound a little lofty, even to me.)

============ excerpt ftp.eff.org:pub/academic/int-freedom.ala ====

        We state these propositions with conviction, not as easy
        generalizations.  We advance a noble claim for the value of ideas,
        freely expressed, as embodied in books and other kinds of
        communications. We do this in our belief that a free intellectual
        climate fosters creative endeavors capable of enormous variety,
        beauty, and usefulness. and thus worthy of support and preservation.
        We recognize that application of these propositions may encourage the
        dissemination of ideas and forms of expression that will be
        frightening or abhorrent to some. We believe that what people read,
        view, and hear is a critically important issue. We recognize, too,
        that ideas can be dangerous. It may be, however, that they are
        effectually dangerous only when opposing ideas are suppressed.
        Freedom, in its many facets, is a precarious course. We espouse it
        heartily.

============ excerpt ftp.eff.org:pub/academic/freedom-to-read.ala ====
     We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy
generalizations.  We here stake out a lofty claim for the value
of books.  We do so because we believe that they are good,
possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of
cherishing and keeping free.  We realize that the application of
these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and
manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons.  We do
not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what
people read is unimportant.  We believe rather that what people
read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that
the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society.
Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.


ANNOTATED REFERENCES

(All these documents are available on-line. Access information follows.)

=================
library/int-freedom.ala
=================
* Intellectual Freedom Statement -- American Library Assoc

An interpretation by the American Library Association of the "Library
Bill of Rights"

=================
library/freedom-to-read.ala
=================
* Freedom to Read Statement (ALA)
and Association of American Publishers.

It says in part: "We trust Americans to recognize propaganda, and to
reject it.  We do not believe they need the help of censors to assist
them in this task.  We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice
their heritage of a free press in order to be "protected" against what
others think may be bad for them.  We believe they still favor free
enterprise in ideas and expression."

=================
=================

These document(s) are available by anonymous ftp (the preferred
method) and by email. To get the file(s) via ftp, do an anonymous ftp
to ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4), and get file(s):

  pub/academic/library/int-freedom.ala
  pub/academic/library/freedom-to-read.ala

To get the file(s) by email, send email to archive-server@eff.org.
Include the line(s) (be sure to include the space before the file
name):

send acad-freedom/library int-freedom.ala
send acad-freedom/library freedom-to-read.ala
-- 
Carl Kadie -- I do not represent EFF; this is just me.
 =kadie@eff.org, kadie@cs.uiuc.edu =
Newsgroups: alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk,comp.admin.policy