Attorney generals trying to shut down usenet?

[Joerg]

Is this a joke or serious?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html

If it's true, what will those guys do next? Ban all automobiles for
everybody because some people were caught driving drunk? Then ban all
booze? Oh wait, I guess we had that already and it didn't work ...

 

[ItsASecretDummy]

Is this a joke or serious?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html

If it's true, what will those guys do next? Ban all automobiles for
everybody because some people were caught driving drunk? Then ban all
booze? Oh wait, I guess we had that already and it didn't work ...

Time Warner are a bunch of goddamned idiots.

They offer "full Internet access", so it looks like they will be in for
a huge class action suit.

 

[JeffM]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html

:"N.Y. attorney general forces ISPs to curb Usenet access"
:
:Cuomo announced[...]that Verizon Communications,
:Time Warner Cable, and Sprint would
:"shut down major sources of online child pornography."
:[. . .]
:Time Warner Cable said it will cease to offer customers access
:to any Usenet newsgroups,
:a decision that will affect customers nationwide.
:
It's not clear if they will just take their own NNTP servers offline
or will if they will block Port 119.

:Sprint is cutting off the alt.* hierarchy, Usenet's largest[...]
:
:A Verizon spokesman said he didn't know details,
:saying "newsgroups that deal with scientific endeavors"
:will stick around but admitted that
:all of the alt.* hierarchy could be toast.
:
Between the OMG-kiddie-porn hand-wringers
and Google Groups (whatever their motives are),
Usenet sure has been taking a beating.

:The Internet service providers should not be blocking
:whole sections of the Internet, all Usenet groups
:said Barry Steinhardt,
:director of the ACLU's technology and liberty program.
:
aka "The Voice of Sanity".

:"That's taking a sledgehammer to an ant."
:
The USA is doomed. Stupidity has taken over.

 

[Martin Riddle]

| Is this a joke or serious?
|
| http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html
|
| If it's true, what will those guys do next? Ban all automobiles for
| everybody because some people were caught driving drunk? Then ban all
| booze? Oh wait, I guess we had that already and it didn't work ...
|
| --

Hmm, I guess there will be problems accessing alt.binaries.schematics for me unless I go with giga news or something.

Cheers

 

[T]

Is this a joke or serious?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html

If it's true, what will those guys do next? Ban all automobiles for
everybody because some people were caught driving drunk? Then ban all
booze? Oh wait, I guess we had that already and it didn't work ...

Unreal. The New York based users of alt.rhode_island are going to be
pissed.

They're taking a pretty wide swath of legitimate content just to kill
the alt.binaries.* groups.

 

[JeffM]

Leftist weenies :-(

Don't be disingenuous.
You know full well it's the Bible-thumpers on your side of the aisle
that are pushing this crap.

 

[krw]

Don't be disingenuous.
You know full well it's the Bible-thumpers on your side of the aisle
that are pushing this crap.

Really? I didn't know NY was a bastion of bible thumpers, or that
Andy Cuomo (Mario's pinko kid) was the chief thumper.

 

[JeffM]

Really? I didn't know NY was a bastion of bible thumpers,

The "Moral Majority" is neither. It only takes a vocal minority.

or that Andy Cuomo (Mario's pinko kid) was the chief thumper.

Italian Catholic==Bible-thumper
Gutless politician==easily manipulated

 

[krw]

The "Moral Majority" is neither. It only takes a vocal minority.

Italian Catholic==Bible-thumper
Gutless politician==easily manipulated

Nice twostep around your STUPID observation.

 

[JeffM]

I isn't actually. Pay attention, the judge is running a juvenile
porn site ;-)

I don't know where a judge has gotten into this (yet)
--but you've got the wrong state anyway.
That's a Federal judge in L.A. hearing a whole 'nother matter.

In NY, it wasn't a court case;
it was a gutless politician buckling to hysteria.

....and the judge's porn site was "just for his friends".

 

[JeffM]

Pay attention, the judge is running a juvenile porn site ;-)

....and you need better sources than Fox News.
The judge in L.A. has some really weird shit on there
but NONE of it is kiddie porn.

 

[James Arthur]

Don't be disingenuous.
You know full well it's the Bible-thumpers on your side of the aisle
that are pushing this crap.

Really? It's my impression conservative religious-types usually just
control their kids, and that it's the Democrats who generally think
their government should do it for them.

"Ahh, Democrats," is mostly what I think when I hear politicians
promising us protection from "child predator this-and-that," and other
hobgoblins[1].


Any cites?


Cheers,
James Arthur
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[1] "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed
(and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless
series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
-- H.L. Mencken

 

[JeffM]

It's my impression conservative religious-types usually just
control their kids,

Some do--but you might be thinking about 1958.

and that it's the Democrats who generally think
their government should do it for them.

I find that *Liberals* are more about civil *liberties*
(see the similarity in those words?) and about individual choices
--not imposing their religious dogmas on everyone.

I find that Bible-thumpers are busy-bodies
who just HAVE to make sure that EVERYBODY'S kids are "safe"
--especially those of those Godless (untrustworthy) Liberals.

YMMV

 

[James Arthur]

Some do--but you might be thinking about 1958.

I find that *Liberals* are more about civil *liberties*

They should be, I agree. I like to think of myself as liberal.

But usually "Liberal" today really means "someone else should pay."

Cheers,
James Arthur

 

[James Arthur]

Some do--but you might be thinking about 1958.

I find that *Liberals* are more about civil *liberties*
(see the similarity in those words?) and about individual choices
--not imposing their religious dogmas on everyone.

I find that Bible-thumpers are busy-bodies
who just HAVE to make sure that EVERYBODY'S kids are "safe"
--especially those of those Godless (untrustworthy) Liberals.

YMMV

I really wanted to know, to check independently, so I did a number of
Google searches intended to emphasize proposed legislation and such.

It's a very crude measure of course...

Google Search Phrase ______With keyword_______
--------------------------- "Democrat" "Republican"
protect child predator bill 69,200 46,500
protect child pornography bill 460,000 238,000


child predator measure democratic 33,100
child predator measure republican 23,500

children porn bill democratic 1,030,000
children porn bill republican 757,000


Cheers,
James Arthur

 

[Eeyore]

Is this a joke or serious?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html

If it's true, what will those guys do next? Ban all automobiles for
everybody because some people were caught driving drunk? Then ban all
booze? Oh wait, I guess we had that already and it didn't work ...

Do they plan to selectively block access to google groups too ?

And how do these clowns suppose they can prevent NNTP traffic running to
other news service providers ?

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

| Is this a joke or serious?
|
| http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html
|
| If it's true, what will those guys do next? Ban all automobiles for
| everybody because some people were caught driving drunk? Then ban all
| booze? Oh wait, I guess we had that already and it didn't work ...


Hmm, I guess there will be problems accessing alt.binaries.schematics for me unless I go with giga news or something.

How about turning it into sci.binaries.schematics.electronic ?

What's involved in that ?

I dare say a lot of other alt groups could become rec.and so on etc etc

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

Google doesn't carry alt.binaries.*

It's not just the binaries that are affected though AIUI.

They don't. It's not about stopping kiddie porn. It's about getting
headline news for the Attorney General and cutting costs and lack of
advertising revenue for Sprint, TW, and Verizon.

Not difficult to believe.

Graham

 

[Martin Griffith]

Is this a joke or serious?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html

If it's true, what will those guys do next? Ban all automobiles for
everybody because some people were caught driving drunk? Then ban all
booze? Oh wait, I guess we had that already and it didn't work ...

If it's true, what will those guys do next?

Ban the 8051?


martin

 

[Tim Williams]

children porn bill democratic 1,030,000

Nahhh, that one's skewed by pictures of Bill the Democrat coming up from the
last three keywords. :^)

Tim