Unconstitutional

[kln@a.crl.com]

Okay, I have to put my two cents in.  

The telecom bill is clearly unconstitutional, and it will just be a matter of a 
lawsuit or two to get this cleared up, and we will be back to the drawing board.

Those-Who-Want-Control are in the same sort of tizzy that they were way back 
when (gasp!) printing and books became widely available.  Oh my god, people are 
going to get ideas!  They're going to share them!  Women are going to learn to 
read!  Worse, <commoners> are going to learn to read! It is the end of the 
world.

But, as we've learned the past couple of hundred years, the printed word is 
largely ungovernable and uncensorable.  The electronic word is ten times more 
ungovernable and uncensorable: it spreads faster, goes worldwide instantly, is 
copied instantly and in private, it is a little harder to pile up in a heap and 
burn.  It is already so far beyond their control they can <never> catch up short 
of turning off all the electricity around the world.

All the noise being generated about this provides alarming distractions for the 
simple minded -- keeps them from thinking about the real issues -- which is the 
idea: How can we deal with the poor when there's all this pornography to worry 
about?  How can we help the mentally ill to live with dignity when nasty child 
molesters are climbing into our houses through our computers? 

It's all an emotionally charged smoke screen distracting people from the 
problems we should really work on.  

Karen  kln@a.crl.com