Re: [ga] Posting rights of Jeff Williams suspended for 14 days.

[Don Brown <donbrown_l@inetconcepts.net>]

There will always be people who you may think a jerk, as well as those
who you may feel offer nothing more than liking to hear themselves
speak.  That, however, is a matter of personal prospective and it is
well within the power of each of us to simply not read their messages.

Everyone in the community should have the unfettered right to be heard
- even those that babble, those we don't like and those that deliver
messages to which we disagree. Yes - even Jeff Williams and Joe
Baptista, should not be restricted in the delivery of their messages,
regardless of our individual or collective perception of their value
or worthlessness.

Censorship is not appropriate and doesn't belong in the same solar
system as the terms "open" and "transparent." We impeach our own
process, by singling out certain people for censorship or
disenfranchising any member of the community.




Tuesday, May 6, 2003, 2:46:07 AM, Stephane Bortzmeyer <bortzmeyer@nic.fr> wrote:
SB> On Mon, May 05, 2003 at 05:30:03PM +0100,
SB>  Richard Henderson <richardhenderson@ntlworld.com> wrote 
SB>  a message of 143 lines which said:

>> "ALAC, whose goal is to legitimitize the total elimination of public
>> representation on the Board of ICANN"... yep... the whole point of ALAC is
>> to minimise and contain the impact of the internet user community and to
SB> ...
>> ICANN is regarded with disdain because it is perceived as a self-serving
>> clique of insiders, working on behalf of the US Government,
SB> ...
>> The comments of Jeff Williams were insubstantial.

SB> I hope that nobody will accuse me of defending the US government or
SB> its front in Marina del Rey but you raise an important point: besides
SB> Jeff Williams' empty and useless contributions, there is the issue of
SB> "at large" involvment (I use lowercase to emphasize that I talk about
SB> the concept of "at large" participation, not the actual attempts by
SB> ICANN to organize it.)

SB> IMHO, there is still no serious way to build a real democracy online:
SB> the various "at large" attempts are a proof by experience that the
SB> situation is not ready yet. This GA list is a typical
SB> example. Discussions are focused on the intense activities of a few
SB> trolls like Joe Baptista. Although some people like Vittoria Bertola
SB> and yourself try to stay calm and to express their views in a way that
SB> reasonable people could read and understand, and although these
SB> reasonable people are probably the majority, nervertheless, the
SB> debates revolve around a few jerks which are not connected to any
SB> actual practice.

SB> Not having any responsability, they can work full-time sending
SB> messages on the GA list, screaming "censorship" and "fascism" at every
SB> possible opportunity.

SB> I have no suggestions at the present time. I just wanted to
SB> acknowledge that the ICANN at least tried (and failed). I strongly
SB> hope that the idea of an Internet democracy will raise again and will
SB> be successful next time but I have no idea how.

>> mentality which could be seen as institutionally fascist and arrogant.

SB> Here, I agree with Vittorio: the real fascists are people who kill,
SB> torture and mutilate. They do not try to silence you by suspending
SB> your posting rights on a mailing list for two weeks. They shoot you
SB> right now. Calling the administrators of this mailing list "facists"
SB> is a insult to the victims of the real fascists. (It's like saying
SB> "genocide" for every murder: you blur the responsability of the real
SB> genociders.)

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----
Don Brown - Dallas, Texas USA     Internet Concepts, Inc.
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