[1463] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: So what is the answer?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John Pettitt)
Wed Oct 9 15:24:00 1991
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 91 08:46:36 PDT
Reply-To: njin!specialix.co.uk!John.Pettitt@uu.psi.com
To: Charles_K._Kuhlman.MAN@rxg.xerox.com, com-priv@uu.psi.com
From: njin!slxinc.specialix.com!jpp@uu.psi.com (John Pettitt)
> Michael C. Berch writes about Joe:
> <You say, "better (to deal
> with) me than the Baptists", but I wonder -- is there really a
> difference?>
>
> Amen to that. After watching this thread (and the others) I went down to a
> library and found some of Joe Abernathys articles. Ouch. Joe, you must have
> tremendously thick skin to write like that and come back to the Internet for
> more abuse. Do you receive ANY support from the net (and can you quote them
> here??) or are you a lone wolf?
I have written in support of Joe before. It's very easy to take
a position that finds fault with anything written about the net.
However the articles must be taken in context of the intended
readership and the need to sell papers. The net is BORING add
a little SEX and it gets much more interesting to Joe public.
The two articles I have seen by Joe whilst not 100% acurate
(what is ?) are close. More to the point they raise issues
which do not have simple answers on either side. To those
who say Joe is not objective: Fine show me any paper that is !
Objectivity depends on your view point, if he wrote in a manner
that this list considered `balanced' the Baptist's would probably
complain. The best test of objectivity seems to be that if both
sides are complaining then it's ok :-)
The issue is not sex on the net any more than it is sex on any
public media. It's the dual standard applied by `the US of A'
to all matters sexual. On the one hand material that would
land you in court in the UK is freely available. On the other
childrens programs like `Benny Hill' get put on late at night
and `edited' (that's censored for the mentaly challanged :-).
The net is no different to any other media it all respects
except one - it does not have well funded lobbying groups
protecting it's interests (cf TV, Radio, Telephones, Print).
--
John Pettitt
Specialix International
(jpp@specialix.co.uk or jpp%slxinc@uunet.uu.net)
