Re: Censorship in America, Part II

[Rich Kulawiec <rsk () gsp org>]

On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 11:40:51AM -0500, John C. A. Bambenek, GCIH, CISSP wrote:
> Reviewing the Oxford Dictionary of English, censorship does not require that
> the censor is governmental.

<sigh> Nor, I'll bet, does it delve into the nuances of contract law and
how you can agree to things in contracts by which you voluntarily give
up rights that you might otherwise have.  For example, you might, as a
condition of employment, sign a non-disclosure agreement which forbids
you to talk about X for Y years or to talk about X to Z or whatever.
This represents a voluntarily surrender on your part of some of your
(in the US) First Amendment rights, but it's not censorship.

And it is obviously in the context of Constitutionally-protected rights
that this discussion has any meaning: we're not talking about a TV
network blurring out a boobie here.  Nor is it really of any consequence
what a corporation like NetSol does (unless that corporation is acting
as a proxy for a government, e.g., as a contractor).

You will find that [most] modern corporations go to enormous lengths
to stipulate in their employment agreements, terms-of-service, company
manuals, training programs, contracts, and other materials that they have
sole, unlimited, irrevocable control over every form of communication that
takes place under their auspices.  This renders them immune to claims of
"censorship" because by asserting total control of *everything* -- and
mandating agreement with that control (by employees, customers, etc.) --
they cause everyone involved to voluntarily surrender a portion of
their rights.  To put it another way: within their scope, you *have no
free speech rights*, therefore such rights can't be infringed, therefore
you can't be censored.

Which means, for example, that NetSol must assuredly did not "censor"
this web site: it just (selectively) decided to enforce contract terms.

(Don't, if you're starting to read the thread here, think for a moment
I agree with or approve of this.)

---Rsk
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