Duncan Frissell wrote:

On CSPAN Friday morning a gentlemen who is, I take it, a lobbyist for TPC or the Competitive Long Distance Coalition (TPCs) said that the Internet could be regulated just like magazines, tv, or anything else. I have long doubted statements like this particularly since they come from people without apparent experience on the Net.

[many other interesting comments deleted]

Magazines and TV (and books, newspapers, movies etc.) are _NOT_ regulated, at least not as to content. These media are all pretty much self-regulated. The judgement of whether to print the f-word in a newspaper is made by the editors and/or the publishers--not the government. The same goes for how much flesh gets displayed on a television show, or in a movie, or on the cover of a magazine. It is true that the TV and movie industry have subjected themselves to self-censorship and "guidelines" to avoid having the government step in and do it for them, however. It may be that this individual was speaking in favor of having the Internet community police itself--which may mean he's in favor of an updated Hayes board of censors (the folks who felt that, during the 40's it was obscene to indicate that ANYONE, particularly married people, slept in the same bed together, with the result that bedroom scenes always had the couple sleeping in their own individual single beds). -Pete Loshin pete@loshin.com