Copyright 1992 by Urban A. LeJeune


                Electronic Free Speech Discussion

     On May 31, 1992 Jerry Berman, formerly chief legislative
counsel for the ACLU, joined the GEnie NP*Forum conference to
talk about electronic free speech. Founder of the ACLU Privacy
and Technology Project, Berman currently directs the Washington,
DC, office of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

     The transcript of the conference is available via anonymous
ftp at pilot.njin.net (128.6.7.38).  The transcript, as well as
most class material, is in our dedicated directory.  Download the
transcript.

/pub/Internet-course/free-speech.txt

Note the uppercase 'I' in the path.

     I would like to thank Jim Loomis <LOOMIS@ITHACA.BITNET> for
making the transcript available.  In the assignments that follow
do not get involved in the legal aspects, unless you have legal
experience with the issues or are a lawyer or have access to
counsel conversant with the issues.  We are primarily concerned
with conventions and ethical issues.

     Download and read the conference transcript and then do the
following:

     1. Summarize your understand of the forum.

     2. What do you see as the central issues?

     3. How does Internet differ, relative to privacy, from the
     commercial services such as Compu$serv and Prodigy?

     4. What level of surveillance of individual electronic mail,
     if any, should the administrators of computer systems
     exercise WITHOUT complaint or suspension of security
     violation, or illegal activity such as slander or threats?

     5. Should the administrators of an Internet facility, that
     has been largely, or completely, funded with public money,
     routinely refuse access to a group of people such as
     students?

     Post your responses to these questions and issues, plus any
of you own, to the entire group.  This forum is to be an ongoing
discussion.  I don't want to put a quota on the number of
responses but I do want responses to the postings of fellow
members.  I am especially interested in the viewpoint of students
as compared to faculty/administrators.