Re: FCC Chair Drops Internet Filter Plan -- And Words from the Smothers Brothers

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Mary Shaw" <mary.shaw () gmail com>
Date: January 6, 2009 8:44:38 AM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] FCC Chair Drops Internet Filter Plan -- And Words  
from the Smothers Brothers

Dave,

Among the gems that lurk in the Carnegie Mellon University Policies,  
one of my favorite is the policy on controversial speakers, found at http://www.cmu.edu/policies/documents/FreeSpeech.html

It says in part,
Carnegie Mellon University values the freedoms of speech, thought,  
expression and assembly - in themselves and as part of our core  
educational and intellectual mission. If individuals are to cherish  
freedom, they must experience it. The very concept of freedom assumes  
that people usually choose wisely from a range of available ideas and  
that the range and implications of ideas cannot be fully understood  
unless we hold vital our rights to know, to express, and to choose.  
[[snip]]  When guests are invited by a recognized campus organization,  
they may express their ideas not because they have a right to do so,  
but because members of the campus community have a right to hear, see,  
and experience diverse intellectual and creative inquiry. Defending  
that right is a fundamental obligation of the university. Controversy  
cannot be permitted to abridge the freedoms of speech, thought,  
expression or assembly. They are not matters of convenience, but of  
necessity. [[snip]]
In context, the "not because they have a right to do so" means that as  
a private university we do not offer an arena for anyone who wants to  
demand our attention, but that we (the individuals and campus  
organizations) can invite speakers who might be controversial but who  
we want to hear. The city has many public areas where anyone can speak  
out, including public sidewalks in front of campus buildings.

Mary Shaw


On Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 5:33 AM, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: January 6, 2009 12:38:52 AM EST

[[snip]]
Tommy Smothers, whose character persona (180 degrees from his real
personality) was of the "dumb" brother, was actually the mover and
shaker of the pair.  In this very short (less than one minute) video
clip, Tommy recently explained his concept of "Freedom to Hear" --
without which he suggests (and I agree) that Freedom of Speech can be
rendered essentially impotent
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8biC_T1Rok ).
[[snip]]





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