[12267] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
C&S&NYT
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mike Bauer)
Thu May 12 09:41:07 1994
Date: Thu, 12 May 94 06:36:05 EDT
From: bauer@tig.com (Mike Bauer)
To: seth@albion.com
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: Seth Ross's message of Thu, 12 May 94 00:28:31 -0700 <9405120728.AA06728@albion.com>
i 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."
>> blah blah blah
Seth Ross <seth@albion.com> writes...
>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.
>
Anarchy, thy name is Net. Yes, this article was more reasonable than
that sneering sidebar and I meant to give it greater shrift but got
into giving the shaft to Ms. Siegal and company. The one paragraph in
particular seems to sum it up:
"The larger question is what happens when spamming by advertisers
becomes common, when unsavory busines practices fourish outide of
official regulation, and when the anger from network actions spills
over into the real world."
-Peter Lewis, NYT, 94 May 11
add to this the concern over pedophiles and their growing ilk, and he
raises a good point, but he's a bit alarmist: "Anarchy threatens the
Electronc Fontier." Come on. The whole thing? Cisco router problems
maybe, but not escalating flame wars simply brought to national
attention.
>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."
>
Yeah, OK. So he can write. :)
>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.
>
Oh, yeah??? Well we'll just see about that. I'm going to be in the
Big Apple this June and I'll be looking for Mr. Hoity-Toity Smarty-Pants
Went-to-Boarding-School Big-Shot NYT author. Yeah, got me a new pair
of combat fatigues, night vision goggles, AND an Army surplus
flamethrower. I'll teach you a thing or two about cooked pink meat
and anarchy!
>Seth Ross <seth@albion.com>
>Publisher, Albion Books
