What to do about Germany

What the German goverement threatned to do was inexcusable, but 
something can be done about it.

The way that mail and postings are handeld, it is possible to trash 
mail and posting coming or going to a certin destination.  This is 
censorship, but maybe the members of the goverment have justified 
such an action.

If they can censor others, should others not be able to censor them?  
That's one of the beauties of the electronic age, the only thing that 
matters is intelligence, numbers or political power have negligable 
effects.

Are the german authorities worthy of such an reaction? Have they 
crossed the line?

If they have, maybe they can serve as the example of what happens 
when a group of people attempt to force their will on others.
Regards,
Michael Peponis
PGP Key Avalible form MIT Key Server

> 
> What the German goverement threatned to do was inexcusable, but 
> something can be done about it.
> 
Sorry, but the "German government" did not threaten to do anything at all.
A (conservative-ish) prosecutor started an _investigation_, which
in his eyes was nothing more than executing the law (and sorry, that's
what the guy is paid for).

If the German government did something wrong, it was accepting a law
for the protection of minors (Jugendschutzgesetz), which says that
minors should not be allowed to have access to booze, dope and porno.

Please tell me such laws do not exist in your country...

If anything, this whole bussiness will be one step in the correct
direction:
- Either some modus operandum is found which makes it clear for everybody
  how to offer pornographic material and comply with the law at the
  same time (cf. the First Virtual account ID's you have to enter at
  all those sites pointing to www.infohaus.com - in the US, this modus
  operandum seems to be ``proof of having a credit card'');
- Or the German Government learns about the lack of frontiers on the Net, 
  and gives up (which is highly improbable).
I think the first point is most realistic (especially when considering that
German prosecutors don't have the option of not prosecuting when they hear
about a felony, like for example Dutch prosecutors). Given my experience
with the German government, however, it will take some time for them to
realize that they need a set of rules in this area.

-- 
Cees de Groot, OpenLink Software		     <C.deGroot@inter.NL.net>
262ui/2048: ID=4F018825 FP=5653C0DDECE4359D FFDDB8F7A7970789 [Key on servers]
 -- Any opinions expressed above might be mine.