And any number of other access services providing on-ramps to the
information superhighway -such as it is.  Aside from the technical
details of their implementation, this speaks to another side of the
issue we listowners need to keep in mind:  the "invasion" of the
Internet by people who otherwise were not users until the recent social
popularity of the superhighway caught on.
 
My local newspaper has connected to the net (surprise) and is running
a series of articles on net usage.  I have already contacted the local
reporters to remind them that, though this seems a new frontier to
many, there are virtual cultures already established here which would
appreciate their cooperation, even as they welcome their membership.
 
Yes there will always be those of the "unlimited free speech is god"
camp, but nobody is arguing what a person may or may not say in
the right company.  It's not a matter of censoring free speech as
much as it is a matter of not having your party crashed.  If someone
insists on talking irrelevant or offensive trash, the members have a
right to object, just as the offender has a right to find, or start,
a list which meets his/her particular requirements.
 
And of course there are many shades in between.  Communication is,
after all, a two-way negotiation.  The owner/moderator must show a
willingness to reasonable accomodation to differences of rhetorical
style, just as the members must show that their style is meant in
good faith.
 
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% George Buckner                                                    %
% [log in to unmask]                                                %
% [log in to unmask]                                                   %
% "Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders    %
%  what the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of."            %
%                                       -They Might Be Giants       %
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