[12266] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: C&S&NYT
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Seth Ross)
Thu May 12 05:07:42 1994
Date: Thu, 12 May 94 00:28:31 -0700
From: seth@albion.com (Seth Ross)
To: com-priv@psi.com
Cc: bauer@tig.com (Mike Bauer)
Reply-To: seth@albion.com
Mike Bauer writes:
> Peter Lewis has two big articles on them and the general state
> of controversy on USENET in the NYT today. It's typical Peter.
> He seems to side once again, however subtly, with what seems to
> be "normal business people taking rightful advantage of a 'geek'
> medium." Title of the article is "Sneering at a virtual lynch mob."
In all fairness, the lead story in the 5/11/94 Business Day section is
"Anarchy, a Threat on the Electronic Frontier?" It's an admirable piece of
reporting, very even-handed. Quotes from Phil Agre, Tony Rutkowski, and other
prominent net citizens. Canter & Siegel managed to get ink in the "lynch mob"
piece, but it's only a sidebar.
My favorite bit: "Among network veterans, such random posting is known as
'spamming' -- a term derived from a brand of pink, canned meat that splatters
messily when hurled."
I've been pleased with the Times escalating coverage of the net. It's not the
least bit surprising that the articles in the business section have a business
slant. Keep in mind also that Peter Lewis was flamed pretty heavily after his
first C&S piece, here and elsewhere. You can flame anyone you want on the net,
but the reporter for a national newspaper gets the last word.
Seth Ross <seth@albion.com>
Publisher, Albion Books
