Bill speaks sooth. Personally, I agree with Jean-Francois in that the Singapore government *does* understand the Net, and is using that knowledge to control it within their borders reasonably well. Remember the next phase of restrictions goes into effect on September 15. But I don't see a problem in being polite the first time. -Declan On Thu, 29 Aug 1996, Bill Frantz wrote:

At 5:21 PM 8/29/96 -0500, Jean-Francois Avon wrote:

...

I am fed up of seing net users giving every would-be dictator the benefit of the doubt. There is no tolerance to be applied to that. There is no such thing as being tolerent to poison.

I don't think this is giving Singapore's rulers the benefit of the doubt. Rather, it is a case of asking politely the first time. Since it is asking him to change a policy of his, it is merely avoiding calling him a shithead in the process. When you want someone to do something voluntarily, it is usually better to start by being polite.

It is up to other net-forces to make sure that censorship is ineffective for technical reasons.

------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | Cave ab homine unius libri | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | [Beware the man of one | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@netcom.com | book] - Anonymous Latin | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA

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