[1107] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Network Access to Campaign Information
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Public-Access Computer Systems For)
Tue Sep 1 09:44:43 1992
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 08:39:36 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <LIBPACS%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
2 Messages, 62 Lines
*-----
From: Dan Lester <ALILESTE@IDBSU>
Subject: Re: Network Access to Clinton/Gore Campaign. ILLEGAL???
>Is it legal to use the Internet which is a federally funded
>network for Campaign Propaganda????
It seems to me that "campaign propaganda" is a term that may depend on
the opinion of the beholder, much like pornography, obscenity, beauty,
truth, and so forth.
Two points come to mind:
The federal government provides campaign financing under laws that our
congresspersons voted for. That may not explicitly cover the internet,
but.....it is consistent with it.
More important, people in the scholarly fields of communications, speech,
political science, and history want the original texts for analysis and
study in their discipline. In the past, texts of speeches have been
difficult to get, as few papers other than the New York Times have
printed full texts, and even the Times doesn't print them all. These
scholars have had great difficulty getting accurate texts or transcripts
of speeches given around the country, since in the past they were usually
prepared in only one, or a few, copies for the speaker and sometimes
for the media.
As long as the providers give equal access to all candidates and voters,
I see absolutely no problem with it. If it helps produce voters who
are better educated by more information than the sound bites on the evening
news, we are all better off for it.
CRTNET has been publishing many of the speeches as part of regular
issues of their irregular journal. They have published speeches of
the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of both major
parties, plus some others. The Communications people who receive
that list are very pleased.
* Dan Lester Bitnet: alileste@idbsu *
* Associate University Librarian Internet: alileste@idbsu.idbsu.edu *
* Boise State University *
* Boise, Idaho 83725 BSU and I have a deal: I don't speak *
* 208-385-1234 for them and they don't speak for me. *
*-----
From: Elizabeth Lane <ELANE3@UA1VM>
Subject: Re: Network Access to Clinton/Gore Campaign. ILLEGAL???
Well, since our tax dollars already pay for quite abit of the campaign,
I don't see much of a conflict. Besides, individual machines are not
funded by the government; they are paid for by their host institutions.
What gets put on those machines is up to the discretion of the owner.
The *traffic* is another story, but at this point, the only "prohibitions"
on the Federally-funded backbone are of commercial materials.
I'm all in favor of making as much available as we can. One person's
"propaganda" is another person's primary source material.
| Elizabeth Lane Internet: elane3@ua1vm.ua.edu |
| University of Alabama BITNET: ELANE3@UA1VM |
