FC: Bruce Taylor replies to News Corp: "Porn & pirates poison progress"

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Forwarded with permission. Bruce Taylor is the president of the National 
Law Center for Children and Families and is widely credited with crafting 
the Communications Decency Act. Earlier this month, he represented members 
of Congress in defending the COPA anti-erotica law: 
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-948118.html Previous Politech message: 
http://www.politechbot.com/p-03909.html --Declan]

---

From: "Bruce Taylor" <BATaylorEsq () msn com>
To: "declan" <declan () well com>
Subject: Re: News Corp's chief Chernin is right- porn and pirates poison 
progress
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 22:07:43 -0400

Hi, Dec.  As you know, I've been crabbing since 95 that porn and crime are 
not what the net needs and that you could do anything you want with the 
Internet and Congress would leave it alone if it wasn't run by 
pornographers and stalkers and anti-social misfits.  Tell me it ain't 
so!  I keep telling you that you who love the net should work to preserve 
the good uses of it and stop supporting those who bring down the heat on 
it, like the phony attack on the CDA and COPA by all those who wouldn't be 
affected by those laws so the porn syndicates could benefit from the ACLU's 
misdirected fund-raising frenzy of misrepresentations to the courts.  Too 
bad the courts fell for it, but they can't be faulted entirely for 
listening to those who you netizens brought into court and said were the 
"experts" on the Internet and then told the courts that the net could do 
anything except comply with those laws and would just die if federal law 
imposed any restraints on the free flow of pornography, which is all those 
bills would affect if interpreted and applied as Congressional intent 
intended.  I know your side thinks no laws is good laws, but this country 
and the Internet was built on a governmental system where good laws were 
imposed on all so that the bad folks can't stop the good folks from doing 
good work, like inventing and running the world and the Internet, 
too.  Anyway, I haven't had a good rant since last year, but Mr. Chernin's 
rant ticked me off to the "what could have been" instead of "what a mess 
we're in" and I don't blame business and parents for holding off on the 
Internet while it's too hot to handle.  The economy is suffering for lack 
of confidence and enthusiasm for all things Internet, so your side's 
"anarchy is bliss" strategy hasn't worked so perfectly, either, even though 
it's worked to fool many otherwise well-meaning judges into letting 
everyone have free reign.  The cyber-punks may have the conch, but they 
haven't governed themselves or taken care of the best interests of the rest 
of us so wonderfully, in my humble opinion.  Oh well, I know there're two 
sides to this one, too, but this is my side and it's nice to see a man like 
Mr. Chernin catching on to some of what we've been fighting about all these 
years.   It's still fun to fight about it, even with you, my worthy 
adversary.  Be good, fight fair, see ya, Bruce
 




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