On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 18:39:44 GMT, Dave Hall wrote:

[snip]

Which part of "Congress shall make no law ...abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press" do you believe applies to a privately-owned ISP's right to pull
the plug on a customer?

The rights of people to express themselves in public (within limts) is
guaranteed. However a private company can set rules to restrict certain
behaviors. Thus begins the tug of war between the right to express an
opinion in a public place (a newgroup forum), and the private company
who provides the access right to set limitations. That doesn't stop the
endless debates on the subjectivity used in determining when someone
"crosses the line".

I agree: it's not likely to stop the "debate;" but just because a "debate"
exists does not mean it is a valid one.

I'm sure my generalization is unfair to a handful of ISPs who *do* pull the plug
on those who abuse newsgroups by posting off-topic arguments, but I haven't run
across them over the last dozen years.

On an unmoderated newsgroup, there is generally little recourse. Even
idiots have a right to be idiots.

Res ipsa loquitur.

I decry these kinds of posts, as I know you and many others do; but ultimately,
there has to be some kind of "gentleman's agreement" between the main combatants
that the behavior is inappropriate--and that it is literally destroying the
newsgroup.

Maybe there can be no "gentleman's agreement" because the concept of
being a gentleman has escaped many people? The ideal of disagreeing
without being disagreeable?

While there are clearly people here whose conduct is (to put it charitably)
ungentlemanly, if a few were to help create a sort of group ethos, that could
leaven the rest. Peer pressure is a powerful force.

Like I've always said, it takes two to tango. If someone put up an
inflammatory OT post, and no one responded to it, it would wither and
die. We need to collectively exersise more self control when we respond
to, and unwittingly perpetuate these OT posts, which usually degenerate
into name-calling sessions.

No argument there.

Joe Parsons