![]() | |
![]() ![]() |
1994 Fools: Hey, look, the UVV is famous!
Article: 93894 of news.groups Path: tcsi.tcs.com!agate!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!qualcomm.com!happy!rdippold From: rdippold@qualcomm.com (Ron "Asbestos" Dippold) Newsgroups: news.groups,alt.config Subject: Hey, look, the UVV is famous! Followup-To: news.groups Date: 1 Apr 94 10:11:39 GMT Organization: QUALCOMM, Incorporated; San Diego, CA, USA Lines: 161 Message-ID: <rdippold.765195099@happy> NNTP-Posting-Host: happy.qualcomm.com Originator: rdippold@happy.qualcomm.com Xref: tcsi.tcs.com news.groups:93894 alt.config:24682 Pretty cool, eh? I got an advance copy since I cooperated on the story. This should be in your papers tomorrow, hopefully. I think you'll agree this is all pretty reasonable. Usenet Volunteer Votetakers to Become First Official U.S. Government Information Superhighway Task Force Liasons Washington, DC (Reuters) -- The Information Superhighway Task Force (ISTF), under the direction of Vice President Al Gore, announced today that the Information Superhighway of the future is well under construction. The ISTF has been in intense consultation with members of the Usenet Volunteer Votetakers (UVV), a group of individuals which handles new group creation votes for Usenet, the Internet News message service. The UVV will be the first official U.S. Government ISTF Internet Liason group. Usenet, which consists of thousands of discussion groups (BBoards) carried on the Internet - a huge national network which is considered by many to be a prototype of the National Information Superhighway. Creating a new discussion group entails a vote of all Usenet readers, which is handled by the UVV, a group of volunteers who act as neutral votetakers. "We understand the importance of new group creation in the context of the Information Superhighway," said Gore. "Those who control group creation control content. Therefore we are of course very interested in taking a proactive role in this process." The ISTF has been aware for some time that Usenet is a hotbed of criminal activity including hacking, child pornography and recruitment, and support of international terrorism to name just a few. To combat the danger which unrestrained freedom of discussion poses to the nation as a whole, it has placed several areas under its scrutiny. Currently, the Usenet Volunteer Votetakers merely act as neutral votetakers for any group that wishes to sponsor a new bulletin board. The ISTF / UVV planning sessions have focused on changes to that arrangement based on past problems. First is the votetaker problem. "One valid concern the ISTF has is that all the votetakers are volunteers," said Ron Dippold, UVV member. "There's no accountability, and the government is understandably worried about seditious elements infiltrating the group." A subsection of the ISTF will act to regulate UVV membership, screen applicants for suitability and administering a loyalty oath. ISTF spokesperson Joseph Kannepolous cautions against reading too much into the latter. "It's just a formality, saying that you won't run votes for groups which are counter to the national interest, or commit suicide in ways which could be embarrassing to the president." Prospective members will be confirmed by a joint ISTF - House of Representatives body. Second are the voter problems. Kannepolous claims that from the voting records they've reviewed, there are two main areas of concern: voters not following instructions and voter accountability. Apparently, Usenet provides no way to positively identify voters. "This will change in the future, but we need to start things moving now," said Gore. For now, a jointly ISTF/UVV designed set of forms will take care of both problems. Beginning August 1, potential voters will need to register with the the ISTF before voting. Form ISTF-230A, which will be available from local libraries, will require would-be voters to give their name, address, phone number, Social Security number or Taxpayer ID, and pay a nominal registration fee of ten dollars. This will cover the expenses of the ISTF and help pay for the Clinton Health Care Plan as well. Users of large on-line services will have things easier - in July, the charge will automatically added to their bill and user records will be given to the ISTF for processing. "I think this shows, more than anything else, how concerned we are about making things easier for people," beamed Kannepolous. "It has other advantages as well - we can compare our database against others, such as that maintained by the IRS. They have expressed considerable interest in using it to withhold voting privileges from those with tax problems." Actual voting will be done by going to the Post Office and presenting your National Usenet Voter Card, paying a one dollar processing fee, and filling out ISTF-145. The forms will be processed at ISTF headquarters by UVV members hired as consultants, and results will be announced three months after the conclusion of the voting period. "I must confess that I was worried about significantly slowing down the processing time," said Ron Dippold, "but the ISTF assures me this is quite reasonable." Finally, there is the problem of groups. Usenet relies on the input of individual users to shape its proposals. Gore expressed grave concern at this problem. "None of these people are elected. People, who for all we know could be child molesters, are making Information Superhighway discussion topic decisions for the entire country. That's scary. Take a recent group such as soc dot sexuality dot zoophilia and the entire rec dot terrorism set of groups, for example. Dangerous groups like these pass every single day, and children can read them. We have a National Usenet Subject Matter Crisis." To combat the problem, Gore has declared a War on Inappropriate Messages and has created a new branch of the ISTF, the Office of Usenet Group Creation (OUGC) to look into regulating group creation specifically. While their report on the subject is not complete, inside sources claim that recommendations have already been made. First, the ISTF will have veto power over any proposed group. "This will only be used when absolutely necessary to the national interest" claims April F. Ouhul of the OUGC. "But it's vital. Because of twelve years of neglect, groups such as 'talk-politics-crypto' have been allowed to flourish, where drug dealers, anarchists and agents of hostile governments meet to plan opposition to the Clinton Administration's vital Clipper chip project, with some success." Another proposal likely to be adopted includes a suite of forms to be filled out by those interested in Usenet group creation and a substantial filing fee "to discourage frivolous groups." Over this year the OUGC intends to retroactively examine all existing groups and remove those which are inappropriate. They recognize that it can be a problem removing groups from Usenet: "You have all those computers, and each site can determine what groups they want to carry. That's a very dangerous precedent," said Ouhul. Accordingly, a bill will be sponsored through Congressman Dan Rostenkowsi (D-MA) this session which makes carrying non-approved Usenet groups a federal offense. Kannepolous is proud of what has been accomplished so far, but admits that there are still problems. "People must realize that there is a segment of Usenet known as 'Altnet' which is a total anarchy. Groups such as 'Alt sex fetish Orientals' are routinely created with no control whatsoever, creating many problems." He has the evidence to back it up. The NAACP is contemplating filing a suit against Usenet, claiming that the lack of a complimentary 'Alt sex fetish African-American' is "discriminatory and racist," and the ACLU has filed suit on behalf of inmate James Moreno of Joliet penitentiary, claiming that the prison's refusal to provide Moreno with the group 'alt binaries pictures erotic' violates his civil rights. Even the Rev. Donald Wildmon is getting into the act, encouraging companies to advertise on Altnet so he can encourage the public to boycott against those who don't fight the "filthy groups." Currently the ISTF is working with the Secret Service and FBI to determine if all contributors to Altnet can be classified as malicious hackers under existing laws. The FCC is also getting involved with another problem - the prevalence of profanity on Usenet, which it considers a Public Resource and thus subject to regulation. "We expect eventual involvement from most levels of government," said Gore. President Clinton, who is currently vacationing in San Diego, stated that he was extremely pleased with the work done so far by Vice President Gore on the Information Superhighway of the future. "This is vital to our success as a nation and my Health Care Reform Package. We can not, must not, let the greedy representatives of big corporate America mortgage our future in this way. I want to let those of you affected know: I feel your pain! We want to help." Dippold is confident this is a good direction for the UVV. "It's a step in the right direction. Next I want to decide who lives and who dies." - 30 - Copyright (C)1994 Reuters News Service, All Rights Reserved Reproduced without permission...
![]() |