Newsgroups: alt.censorship
From: ak200114@sol.yorku.ca
Subject: WaterlooU Censorship - the "Globe and Mail"
Message-ID: <1994Feb6.165403.1@sol.yorku.ca>
Lines: 66
Sender: news@newshub.ccs.yorku.ca (USENET News System)
Organization: York University
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 1994 21:54:03 GMT

The complete article from the "GLOBE AND MAIL"
Toronto, February 5, 1994

COLLEGE DRIVES SEX TITLES OFF INFO HIGHWAY

by Mary Gooderham, Applied Science Reporter

Canada's best-known computer-science school has banned from its
campus five electronic bulletin boards that deal with violent sex
and pornography.

The University of Waterloo, which for six years resisted
censoring the sometimes lurid discussion groups carried on the
Internet system, said it made the move this weeks because of
concerns that the contents contravened laws on pornography and
obscenity.

"The university is trying to protect freedom of expression as
much as possible," said spokesman Martin Van Nierop.  "But when
it goes beyond what's in the Criminal Code then we have to draw
the line."

Most information carried on the free-wheeling and fast-growing
internet is not subject to supervision.

Defenders of the system suggest that the "electronic frontier"
must be kept free of legal shackles while critics suggest that
the data highway needs a few rules of the road -- and police.

"This issue is not for technological people to solve, it's not
for legal people to solve, it's for society to solve," said Sally
Gunz, a professor of business law at Waterloo and chairwoman of
the six-member ethics committee that recommended that the five
bulletin boards be dropped.

The Internet is a world-wide collection of computer networks that
began in the 1960's as a research communications system and now
links millions of people in education facilities, companies,
government offices and homes.

It is used primarily to exchange electronic mail but also carries
co-called newsgroups, which have wide-ranging discussions on
subjects ranging from skiing, gardening and politics to computing
and sex.

Waterloo's decision to pull the plug on five of the dozens of sex
newsgroups has revived an angry debate that began at the
university in 1988 with an abortive attempt to ban a computer
service that carried racist jokes.  Administrators said at the
time that they would not interfere with free access to Internet.

The issue was raised again last year after a compaint from the
Womyn's (sic) Centre Collective that the newsgroups were
blatantly violent and sexist.

"We are talking about the worst child pornography you could
imagine," said Tammy Speers, a member of the collective, which
celebrated the university's decision at a meeting yesterday. 
"These newsgroups were completely infringing on our right to a
safe education."

Waterloo computer users can call up about 3000 different
newsgroups: the five removed this week from the inventory are
called alt.sex.bondage; alt.sex.bestiality; alt.sex.stories;
alt.sex.stories.d; and alt.tasteless.  ("Alt" is one of the
abbreviations for groups that are unregulated.)