Re: Spam Filters Threaten Free Speech on the Internet - washington post

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Steven M. Bellovin" <smb () cs columbia edu>
Date: November 30, 2008 3:42:27 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Cc: Rahul Tongia <tongia () cmu edu>
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   Spam Filters Threaten Free Speech on the  
Internet - washington post

On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:06:31 -0500
David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:

> From: Rahul Tongia <tongia () cmu edu>
> Date: November 30, 2008 9:51:54 AM EST

> Correct me if I'm wrong (as I often am!) but isn't the First
> Amendment about rights vis-a-vis the GOVT. and not between private
> individuals?...
This is, of course, correct, but there are deeper issues.

The first is whether government actions, though not (nominally?)
intended to stifle free speech, nevertheless have that effect.  That
principle is seen most clearly regarding civil rights -- normal
actions, such as setting school district boundaries or legislative
redistricting, can be assessed on whether or not the *effect* is to
deny minority rights.  Are there any government actions that have
encouraged this sort of filtering?

The second is more philosophical.  To me, at least, free speech is a
moral principle, not just a legal one.  While I certainly don't want to
be forced to listen to speech I find unpleasant or merely uninteresting,
I am concerned when the infrastructure blocks it, as opposed to me
personally discarding it.  In particular, as certain functions become
more and more concentrated -- see the discussions about Google's
policies -- private parties take on quasi-governmental roles, without
either representation by citizens or protection of essential rights.
This isn't a new situation -- see, for example, the contentious issue
of free speech in shopping malls
(http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=447&invol=74
is the latest US Supreme Court ruling on the subject), the rights of
residents of some subdivisions that are governed by contract rather
than statute, etc. -- but the fact that the Internet (in the US) is
almost completely private exacerbates the situation online.

                --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb




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