SC - Re: Aoife's Complaint

[Philip & Susan Troy]

LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> 
> We are guaranteed that basic right. There are no guarantees that we don't
> have to hear the speech or read the writing.

Really? I find that difficult to accept. We are guaranteed the right of
free speech (here in the US, and it is far from universal) and this
fellow has had his say on his organization's Web pages. It does not
entitle him to spam this list in violation of the stated groundrules,
particularly when he isn't even a subscriber to the list himself, so
obviously he is denying us our right to free speech by not gamely
listening to our complaints. Horrors.

As for there being no guarantees that we don't have to hear the speech
or read the writing, suppose somebody forwarded the post to your
mailboxes at AOL, say, several times a day for, say, a year. Would you
not complain to AOL, and wouldn't AOL act to stop it? Or would you be a
good sport and chalk it up to free speech? Or how about if a lot of
people come over to your place to watch Pat Robertson on TV, with the
sound turned way up, because Robertson is protected by the first
amendment? Sound insane? Sound like an imposition? You bet it is.

I agree that information is _never_ without value, but this information
is available for those who want it, and those who find it offensive
should not be forced to allow it to subvert the purpose of the internet
service they pay for, any more than any other unsolicited junk mail.  

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com