Category : Various Text files
Archive   : SUN9311.ZIP
Filename : EDIT

STTS Editorial
Copyright (c) 1993, Joe DeRouen
All rights reserved


What, it's this time again? It seems like only yesterday when I was
finishing up the October issue. Time does indeed fly when you're having
fun.

With this issue, STTS hits the five month mark. I'd like to thank
everyone who's been reading it since the beginning, as well as the new
readers and SysOps who've "discovered" us along the way. Truly, you make
it all worth while.

In this issue, Gage Steele explores the strange case of a Hartford,
Connecticut SysOp accused of promoting anarchy. Fact really IS stranger
than fiction, as you'll see when you read MICHAEL ELANSKY: ANARCHIST?.

BBSing, though it's been around since the late 1970's, is still a
relatively new medium. Constantly changing, the BBS world doesn't quite
seem sure how to regulate itself. We've all heard the stories of BBS's
being "busted" for pirated files and users trading illegal credit card
information through the electronic airways.

To be sure, BBSing *does* need to be put under just as close of scrutiny
as does any other form of communication. "Pirate boards" SHOULD be
illegal, just as it's illegal for someone to sell copies of pre-recorded
VHS movies. But where does the rightful policing stop and persecution
begin?

Irving, Texas recently made a ruling as to just what GIF files can and
cannot be placed on a BBS. While this applies to adult/nude GIFS and I
myself don't see much use for them, the ruling worried me. As long as
one person's perversion (for lack of a better word) doesn't hurt anyone
else, who is the government to decide just what they can and cannot look
at?

Coming full circle, Mr. Elansky was arrested for having a file on his
BBS which allegedly gave instructions on how to build a bomb. Proof on
the file's existence and certainly it being accessible by anyone under
18 seems sketchy, but nevertheless the SysOp sits in jail on a half a
million dollar bond.

Censorship scares me. Always has. I also see a need for policing. Is
there a happy medium? I wonder sometimes. If we police ourselves, maybe
there won't be a need for the government to come into play. Or maybe
they'll just find something new to persecute. Only time will tell.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Joe DeRouen, 10/29/93