At 4:48 PM -0800 12/7/97, Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote:
I still don't understand why it is "censorship" when any company can come up with any software that rates sites according to any scheme, and anyone can choose to use any package, or ignore the software altogether. there is total freedom in all of this.
If that were all that were going on, no one would argue with it. The problem arises when government bodies require use of a particular filter (as in libraries), or require publishers to attach derogatory labels to the information they publish (as in too many trial balloons for me to list). These are abuses of freedom, and if you pay attention, you'll see that such applications of filter and labeling programs receive the lion's share of vocal opposition. There are a couple of subsidiary problems - one is that current filterware is, not to put too fine a point on it, terrible to the point of constituting fraud on the consumer; another is with the issue of minors' rights to access information they need, and the limits that parents and schools must observe in restricting those rights while still fulfilling their responsibilities. Current filterware would still be criticized - rightly so - even if it weren't being used for censorship. But the fact is that it is being so used. Someday, perhaps the threat of censorship-via-filters will go away and we can spend less time discussing them. -- Morning people may be respected, but night people are feared.