Date Posted:10:36:24 04/18/01 Wed Author: ML Starkey Subject: postings In reply to:
Dennis Shaughnessey
's message, "Re: Town Fathers court Big Brother" on 00:08:14 04/18/01 Wed
I think there are alot of folks here that aren't hip to the ways of 'Net. There are 2 camps here: one that feels that speech on the Internet is and should be free and unmoderated and the other feels that discourse should be regulated, moderated and cleansed.
Sure it is "natural" to wonder who "Naturally" is and wish he/she would unmask him/herself, we are all curious humans after all. Or to put it another way, the "free Internet" camp says that someone like Naturally has every right to carry on in an anonymous fashion and the "control Internet" group says that this person should be forced to "out" themselves.
The fact that has really put ISPs and sysadmins and the like on guard are the lawyers, (like always). Internet providers have to provide information on postings and other content on demand in response to legal filings and injuctions and so forth. That's why you see these boards having these "registration" requirements. It really doesn't matter as long as your IP address is logged when you connect/post, because "they" can always track you down via your "internet onramp" through your ISP.
The other fact that makes this even murkier is that the Internet is global, not just a USA thing. Our laws usually stop at our borders and the Internet does not.
I do work in the computer business and I try to keep up with these things but like anything, one you bring the lawyers in, things get complicated really, really fast. My analysis here may be somewhat lightweight, but I just wanted to give a sense of what we are up against.
Oh, and which "camp" am I in? I can see the logic on both sides, but the inability of the legal side of things to keep up with how things develop and evolve on "Internet time" is a real problem. It will definately keep things interesting.
As for this whole GIS system or whatever, it could be used for good and used for bad, just like any technology. It depends upon whose hands it is in. I think the price tag is a bit high; does Dracut really, really need this?
