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Subject: Remember the Blackout
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Date: Wed, 5 Feb 1997 13:23:02 -0800
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From: dwiner@well.com (DaveNet email)
Subject: Remember the Blackout
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Amusing Rants from Dave Winer's Desktop
Released on 2/5/97; 1:23:01 PM PST
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A short piece, in the middle of much website work, to remind everyone
that Saturday February 8 is the first anniversary of an important
event in our new medium -- the web blackout of 1996.
It's already history. In some circles it's not fashionable to
remember that the United States government attempted to censor free
speech on the Internet. I believe it would be cynical to overlook it.
We defeated the law, even though we re-elected many of the
politicians who tried to outlaw free speech in the name of protecting
children.
I'm building a website that will go live on Saturday to commemorate
the protest, and to serve as a monument to the spirit of free speech. To
remind us that this is a worldwide community, and no political system
has the power to enforce its standards of decency on the medium.
The battle to retain our rights is ongoing. Important organizations
such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil
Liberties Union deserve and require our support. It's easy to lose
sight of the principles that we believe in, to be distracted by
questions of corporate survival, of fear or greed. These are
interesting issues, no doubt. But this is a creative and expressive
medium and to protect its potential, unqualified free speech is
essential.
I played a small role in the web blackout last year. This year I hope to
facilitate, to organize more sites and help to spread the word that
free speech is not an option, not something that can be traded or
limited and that no compromises are possible.
http://www.scripting.com/davenet/misc/blackout/
If you run a democracy-related site, large or small, please visit the
page before Saturday and register. If you know someone who does,
please pass this on. And if you value free speech, please visit the
site on Saturday or later. It'll be a fascinating trip thru Internet
history, if nothing else!
Remember the blackout. Remember why it was necessary. Don't let
people use children as an excuse to deprive people of their power to
express themselves.
Dave Winer
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Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com), Philodox
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