[176] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (kmeyer@usc.edu)
Fri Nov 16 00:27:28 1990
To: molnar@canet.ca
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 21:13:25 -0800
From: kmeyer@usc.edu
From: Tom Molnar <molnar@canet.ca>
...I don't quite understand the outrage at the NSFnet usage
policy. As far as I am concerned, NSF gets to call the shots in how we
use NSFnet since they pay for our use of it. The policy doesn't look that
bad to boot.
Tom:
I think what most of us are objecting to is that Steve Wolff has singled
out sexually oriented material and told various universities that it
violates NSF policy to allow access to it over the network. This is
material which is no more or less in violation of the published NSF
policies than thousands of other items on the network which Steve has
chosen to ignore.
Regarding NSF "calling the shots," I think it is important to note that
NSF is not a company--it is part of the U.S. federal government making it
ultimately responsible to Congress and the taxpayers of the U.S. It is
not an independent entity.
Kraig
