Re: [ga] Proposal for mailing list policy

[Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com>]

On Thu, Jan 13, 2000 at 08:51:08AM -0800, Joe Kelsey wrote:

[excellent discussion]

Just a couple of points:

> Censorship in the United States is defined by the government restricting
> the rights of free expression.  When a private company (e.g., ICANN)
> wishes to carry on a productive discussion, it has every right to insist
> on minimum rules for civility and decorum.

Louis Touton posted an analysis of this issue for the NC or such a 
while back, and pointed out that there was no requirement in the bylaws 
that the DNSO provide a GA list at all.

> I, for one, do not wish to
> be subjected to the childish and unproductive antics of such entities as
> those who identify themselves as the so-called jeff williams and joe
> baptista, whether or not these entities are real persons or merely
> pranksters pulling our legs.  They have nothing productive to add and
> want only to draw attention to themselves.

Not only that, but on occasion the behaviour is truly offensive and/or
threatening.  If you are walking in the park and a beggar asks for some 
money, that may be free speech.  But if they casually finger a 
switchblade knife while asking for money, that's a different matter.  
It's very convenient for online thugs to hide under "freedom of 
speech", but it is thuggery, nonetheless.

> Censorship in most of the rest of the world is fairly close to the US
> model.  In any case, ICANN is a private US corporation, thus limiting
> discussion list membership is in no way censorship.

This is true in the public sector as well.  Disruptive behavior will get
you thrown out of all kinds of government fora.

-- 
Kent Crispin                               "Do good, and you'll be
kent@songbird.com                           lonesome." -- Mark Twain