From:    Balanone                               Area: Night Side
To:      Tim Maroney                             6 Apr 92 15:08:38
Subject: RE: Re: freethinkers don't censor      UpdReq 

On 04 Apr 92  06:36:48, Tim Maroney posted a message to The Sinistar 
concerning "RE: Re: freethinkers don't censor"... 
 TM> Once again, you are completely failing to engage the free speech 
 TM> issues.  All youc an say is that you really don't like the guy and his 
 TM> posting style, so you are perfectly justified in denying himn the right 
 TM> to speak.  You've added the new twist that it's OK to censor him 
 TM> because other people have censored him.  Please, stop and think about 
 TM> what you're doing, and what attitudes like yours do to the world. 
Tim, 
In general I agree with you that censorship should be avoided. 
However, I also believe in one's responsibility to speak
responsibly when using someone else's resources.
In this case, the young one was using Sinistar's BBS,
offending Sinistar's users, and spreading his garbage (my
opinion) through the echoes at Sinistar's cost.  Just as any
publisher would, Sinistar has the right to determine how his
resources are used.  Knowing as little as I do concerning the
details of this action, I tend to support Sinistar's actions
on his BBS.
Were that young one to start his own BBS, he would then be
free to speak/type as he chose on that BBS, and to communicate
to anyone who would listen/read.  He would be free to
communicate on the echoes at his own expense, to the limits
permitted by echo administration (again concerned with the
resources of the participating sysops).
Rights and responsibilities go hand in hand.  Abuse of one's
rights at the expense of others, such that it impinges on
others' rights (in this case, Sinistar's right to determine
upon which material Sinistar will spend money to store and
forward), should not be tolerated.
I will support your right to publish and distribute your own
statements regardless of what they say and how they say it. 
But I will not permit you to drain my personal financial
resources to distribute content or format I disagree with. 
I support Sinistar's right to control his resources as well.
 What do you think of that side of the issue?
 Balanone
   PP
 ... Hey!  No!  Don't pick up that pho+>+Abe+++T

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