Freedom and security

[Declan B. McCullagh]

Excerpts from internet.cypherpunks: 1-May-96 Re: Freedom and security 
by Black Unicorn at schloss.li 
>  
> Readers will note a familiar tactic.  "Parade of horrors."  The advocate
> will pass a series of examples intended to shock and frighten the reader
> into accepting the next convenient solution to these problems, which is
> coincidently provided by the advocate.

The parade of horrors, aka the four (or more) horsemen of the
infocalypse, is a common fear tactic used by those who would to restrict
our liberties. The family values groups employed this to great effect
during the CDA debate.

And as Jim Ray noted, talk is cheap. While the CyberAngels may claim to
be against the CDA, the cynic in me says they have to be against it --
even fewer people would take them seriously if they were for it.

But I don't recall them doing any _campaiging_ against it.

In fact, riding in on those horsemen is a central part of their
strategy. After all, if pedophiles/terrorists/child pornographers didn't
exist, no need for the CyberAngels, hmm?

-Declan

PS: Eric Freedman of Hofstra Law School has a wonderful article in an
upcoming Iowa Law Review about the death of the "obscenity" standard. I
think a similar argument can be applied to child porn.