now, we can help a man who has worked hard caring for the departed

[david at thekramers.net (David Kramer)]

Eric wrote:
> |> I keep getting junk email offering to sell me Windows ME for $25 and
> |> XP for $50.  If anybodies interested I could forward this wonderful
> |> deal.  ;)
> | Please take advantage of it, then we can excommunicate you from the
> | Linux community :-)
> 
> On a serious note, I really love learning about computers and the net.
> I have a vague concept of "freedom" (really don't like the government or
> their corporate masters monitoring our behavior online) but there's so
> many scam artists and other types of dirtbags around, I often have
> trouble reconciling my beliefs with the real world.  About 2 weeks ago I
> was playing chess online at a site with an international crowd and
> people of all ages and there's been some jerks (who can't play chess
> worth a lick) getting on there and trying to scam people (IM while
> playing).  Not cool with kids around.  Part of me says monitor and crush
> the scum, another part worries that folks with unpopular views will get
> targeted.  At times it's depressing...  People suck.

You're getting into dangerous territory.  Monitor, yes, but on the receiving 
end, not on the government's end or the ISP's end.  Let the end user decide 
what is porn, what is spam, what is a scam, and what is desirable content. 
There are plenty of tools around to help.

The last time we let the government decide what was spam (the telemarketer 
do-not-call list), they decided that calls from campaigning government 
officials and religous organizations were not spam.  Keep that in mind.

When you filter on the end-user side, the end user gets to make the choices.