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Subject:Re: Moderated Techwr-l List? (#153900) From:Mike Bygrave <bygravem -at- INTUITIVE -dot- CO -dot- UK> Date:Thu, 22 Aug 1996 16:49:38 +-100
Bill Burns wrote:
> This post is the second I've seen suggesting that Tom is
> preaching for censorship. In my mind, this insinuation is
> not only unfair to Tom, who was suggesting a *choice* for both
> audiences (those who like chat and those who don't), but it
> reduces the term "censorship" to mean any type of control
> over content, regardless of whether that control is justified
> by the medium's focus.
This is a fair point, but I disagree with it. Although - technically - the suggestion was that the content of the list be filtered (as opposed to censored), this implies that someone would have to do the filtering. Would this person then spend their time redirecting messages received to the appropriate list, or would he/she simply remove messages which he/she judges to be unsuitable? If it is the former, then this is true filtering and therefore less objectionable; if it is the latter, then it is nothing more than thinly veiled censorship.
> Tom was not asking that *this* list be
> moderated; he's asking if another, more focused list should be
> added. A choice between the two would not suppress anyone's
> ability to discuss what they wish; it would merely offer a more
> focused option for those who have the desire for such a venue.
I don't know about you, but I think that this list is possibly too focused as it is. After all, on average you could safely say that there are only a dozen or so topics which seem to come up - and some of those annoy most of us (HTML conversion packages, for instance). I'm not sure that there is enough volume of traffic to support two lists here - if you split this one you run a serious risk of killing it altogether.
Personally, I quite enjoy some of the more 'animated' messages that appear on the list. IMHO they are part of the full and frank discussion which this list encourages, and if the arguments occasionally become a little heated - so be it.
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Mike Bygrave (bygravem -at- intuitive -dot- co -dot- uk)
Standard disclaimer - Please don't sue me
1966 was a great year for English football - Cantona was born
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