[107296] in Cypherpunks
Re: Federal Judge Nukes Web Site
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Tim May)
Fri Jan 8 23:16:48 1999
In-Reply-To: <199901090325.VAA10969@wire.insync.net>
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 19:57:20 -0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Reply-To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
At 7:25 PM -0800 1/8/99, Eric Cordian wrote:
>Here's an interesting case of free speech being stomped on. The
>Internet Entertainment Group(IEG) set up a web site with information
>on the Pope's Jan 26-27 visit to St. Louis, and stuck an adult ad at
>the bottom of each web page.
>
>The site points out that the adult content may be inappropriate for
>children, and that it has no affiliation with the Catholic Church.
>
>A judge, acting on a complaint from the Archdiocese of St. Louis,
>apparently feels he has the power to order the site dismantled
>immediately.
>
>The Pope is a public figure, and certainly not a licensed and
>trademarked cartoon character owned by the Catholic Church or the
>Archdiocese of St. Louis, whose commercial use is somehow regulated.
Seems to me to be a slam dunk case of the government siding with some
particular religious cult.
(I vaguely recall various pre-Web restrictions on folks "using the Pope to
sell products" during one of that cult leader's grand tours through
California.)
Given that most cults these days have some commercial side, whether selling
"Dianetics" books or funny little yarmulke hats, the grounds may be that
the commercial interests of Catholicism, Inc. were being trespassed upon.
Still, one should be free to write what one wants without interference from
the Thought Police.
--Tim May
Y2K -- Where were you when the lights went out?
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments.
