Fw: Usenet Ban a Slippery Slope?

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Usenet Ban a Slippery Slope?

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> >

> > From Wired News

> > <http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32550,00.html>

> >

> > Usenet Ban a Slippery Slope?

> > by Craig Bicknell

> >

> > 3:00 a.m. 16.Nov.1999 PST

> >

> > A brutal, months-long Usenet word brawl that cost jobs and came

> > to death threats ended in a Seattle court Friday when a judge

> > forbade one of the combatants to post new messages on pain of

> > felony charges.

> >

> > The order, which prevents ski buff Abraham from posting

> > any messages on the Usenet newsgroup Rec.Skiing.Alpine (RSA),

> > is intended to keep the flame war from erupting into the real

> > world. Abraham and most of the disputants live in Seattle and

> > have met offline.

> >

> >

> > See also: Break It to Me Gently Online

> > <http://newspub.hotwired.com/news/story/0,1240,20420,00.html>

> >

> > The Usenet prohibition is part of a broader " no contact " order

> > that forbids Abraham to contact his adversaries in the real world,

> > on the telephone, or using email.

> >

> > But free speech advocates say that adding Usenet to the order

> > may violate the First Amendment.

> >

> > " Saying that someone can't use a particular communications media

> > is beyond the constitutional limits, " said Shari Steele, an

> > attorney with Electronic Frontier Foundation. " It's too broad. A

> > more appropriate order would be one that prohibited threatening

> > language in messages targeted to a specific individual. "

> >

> > Abraham took off on a ski trip after Friday's ruling and

> > was unavailable for comment, but the RSA board was bristling

> > anew. There were dozens of sharp stands, both pro and con.

> >

> > " I don't agree with some of the posts on RSA. Hell, I positively

> > DISLIKE some of the people here.... Still, I'll defend to the

> > death their rights to be obnoxious assholes on this [board]

> > (it's called " Freedom of Speech " ), " wrote one poster in part.

> >

> > The fracas began last spring as a dispute over who should get

> > some free ski-lift passes that Abraham had gotten his hands on

> > (posters to the RSA board frequently meet online, set up trips,

> > and meet on the slopes).

> >

> > Abraham ran into at least one of the disputants, Anthea Kerrison,

> > at the Whistler ski area north of Vancouver, British Columbia. The

> > two carried the argument online when they returned home.

> >

> > It quickly turned nasty. Abraham and Kerrison supporters dove in

> > from either side, insults flying like fists.

> >

> > " They wrote that I sodomized my stepson using mayonnaise, " said

> > Bert Hoff, a friend of Abraham's who has posted his version of

> > the Rec.Skiing saga and is pressing Abraham to appeal. " They said

> > my wife was a crack whore. "

> >

> > Hoff fueled the flames by calling Boeing, where Hobbs

> > -- one of his and Abraham's antagonists -- was working as a

> > contractor. He complained that Hobbs was posting noxious filth

> > to Usenet on Boeing's time. Boeing yanked Hobbs' contract.

> >

> > Abraham's foes complained to his employer too, ski-maker

> > K2. Abraham lost his job as a Web site moderator.

> >

> > That's when the death threats began.

> >

> > " I don't make idle threats like you, just keep that in mind when

> > you look out the window and want to go for a walk, " wrote one

> > anonymous poster to Abraham. " It's tough to ski when one does

> > not have use of his knees. If you don't want trouble, I suggest

> > you disappear. A suggestion to stop your insanity ... how about

> > a bullet to your brain? "

> >

> > Abraham's rejoinder: " I had hoped that I would never have to

> > carry a weapon again. As I write, I just finished dressing for

> > my normal Sabbath morning trip to synagogue. Suit, tie, and

> > shoulder holster... I hope you are worrying, because I have no

> > intention of forgetting what you have done to me, and no intention

> > of forgiving. "

> >

> > At that point, one of Abraham's online foes hired a private

> > investigator. The PI sniffed around, concluded Abraham had gone

> > beyond the pale and went to the cops.

> >

> > A detective from the Seattle PD, Leanne Shirey, posted a message

> > on the RSA board urging everyone to calm down.

> >

> > " We politely asked them to desist, and all but one did, " said

> > Shirey. That one was Abraham. His intransigence ultimately led

> > to the court order against him, she said.

> >

> > Shirey defends the decision to bar Abraham from posting on Usenet,

> > claiming it was the only way to end the battle before it became

> > a blood and bones affair.

> >

> > " It's just like a neighborhood dispute, " and RSA happens to be

> > part of the neighborhood, she said. It's perfectly reasonable

> > to keep Abraham out of the virtual neighborhood if he's going to

> > incite violence.

> >

> > Hogwash, said Abraham's friend Hoff, a former attorney.

> >

> > " I want to get the ACLU involved. This is an abuse of the

> > Constitution. I think the judge thought she was making a petty

> > ruling on a misdemeanor, but she unwittingly stepped into the

> > deep doo-doo of Internet censorship. "

> >

> > The ACLU had not yet reviewed the case and declined comment

> > on Monday.

> >

> > ----------------------

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> >

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