"Terror Reading"

[Tim May]

On Saturday, August 30, 2003, at 03:44  PM, Steve Furlong wrote:

> On Saturday 30 August 2003 14:46, Tim May wrote:
>>
>> Even the owner of my ISP is narcing me out.
>>
>> Read what he wrote recently to a Net.Nazi who wanted my speech
>> limited:
>
> (snip)
>
> Huh. Did the ISP cc you on that, or did the would-be censor forward it
> to you as a warning that he held your access in his hands?

The would-be censor forwarded it to me as a warning, that he was "in 
synch" with my own ISP and that I would likely soon be either losing my 
account or getting a visit from the cops (he claimed to have forwarded 
several of my posts to "law enforcement").

My larger point in this discussion here is the issue of what William 
Burroughs called "the policeman inside."

Some librarians are probably now thinking they have a patriotic duty to 
see what people are reading and to report any "suspicious" behavior. 
Part of the intent of the Patriot Act and the Library Awareness Program 
was to bamboozle the nation's librarians into acting as the kind of 
"ward watchers" that were once so common in the Soviet Union (the 
babushkas who sat on each floor of apartment buildings and filed 
reports on the comings and goings of their flock).

Just as some ISP owners seem to think it their duty to "talk to the 
police" about customers whom the DA has not charged with any crime but 
whom the "policeman inside" thinks may be committing thoughtcrime.

I'm not hopeful that the evils of this "policeman inside" mentality can 
be demonstrated by mere, calm discussion. Reminding librarians that 
narcing out customers for reading magazines or books may result in 
violence against them may be useful. It may be that killing just a 
couple will make the point.

Perhaps a small price to pay.

--Tim May
"Ben Franklin warned us that those who would trade liberty for a little 
bit of temporary security deserve neither. This is the path we are now 
racing down, with American flags fluttering."-- Tim May, on events 
following 9/11/2001