From: GBurch1@aol.com
Date: Fri Jun 18 1999 - 17:16:30 MDT
I'm announcing publicly the action I'm taking on the gun moratorium. I agree
with Eliezer that this shouldn't be taken too seriously. It is, after all,
just an e-mail list. However, I believe it is important to make clear the
rationale for the action I'm taking. The following is based on posts made
through June 15.
First, I've decided to extend an amnesty regarding all posts on the
"High-tech weapons" and "G*n cam" threads. Replies to the private emails I
sent to some of the posters on these threads convinced me that the over-all
approach to that subject was taken in good faith as not being within the
ambit of the moratorium (i.e. beyond the subject of gun RIGHTS) and, in fact
with only one exception, the posts appeared to be civil and to avoid the kind
of pointless and personalistic squabbling that precipitated the current
problem. I did not contact every poster on these threads, because it was
becoming clear as the last week progressed that it would be unfair to
sanction posters who were carrying on a discussion they clearly believed in
good faith was exempt from the moratorium. I will note that I considered
this thread to have been within the moratorium but, so long as posters
continue to limit discussion to technological issues, will not consider it
such hereafter. However, any posts in that thread (or any other) that
violate the general guidelines of the list calling for polite discourse will
be subject to the normal sanctions of unsubscription upon receipt of a
complaint. In this regard, please remember that all list posters have the
right to seek unsubscription of indivduals they believe have transgressed the
bounds of civility.
Second, postings in the "Fear of Guns vs. Fear of No Guns" thread were clear
violations of the temporary moratorium. Checking my records, I find that I
contacted each poster in that thread. Tim Bates responded that he had not
seen the moratorium announcement and made his case credible by not
subsequently posting in that thread or other gun threads. Accordingly, I'm
taking no action against Tim. The other posters in that thread either did
not respond to my personal emails or did not plead ignorance. Accordingly, a
sanctioning action will be taken against EvMick@aol.com, ejruud@ucdavis.edu
and joesdees@bellsouth.net. I trust that no one will accuse me of
partisanship in this matter, as EvMick is one of my favorite people on the
list -- I really enjoy tracking his travels as the only transhuman trucker
discovered to date.
Because the moratorium by and large had the effect of dampening the
unpleasant and obsessively numerous postings in the guns thread, I am going
to reduce the originally-announced sanction from a three-month to a one-month
suspension. If ExI is able to implement a moderated or otherwise
better-structured list in the meantime, the sanctioned individuals will be
invited to resubscribe at that time. Otherwise, I will invite these posters
to resubscribe one month hence.
Having announced this action, I feel obliged to ask that each member of this
list community please take the personal responsibility to avoid the kind of
nasty, personalistic or obsessive posting that precipitated this problem in
the first place. I personally believe that a discussion of gun rights is
perfectly proper on this list. However, undertaking a crusade that involves
posting as many as dozens of messages per day, day after day, is just the
kind of inflammatory tactic that can ruin an online community. Personalistic
slurs and foul language are clearly prohibited on this list and are subject
to on-going rules calling for unsubscription of individuals who engage in
this sort of verbal behavior.
Letting someone you consider wrong or even evil have the last word is a lot
less damaging to your cause than prolonging a pointless exercise in
name-calling. Please consider that drafting and posting a well-reasoned
summation of your views is much more persuasive than engaging in a prolonged
campaign of name-calling, no matter how eloquent or entertaining to you the
name-calling may be.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
"Civilization is protest against nature;
progress requires us to take control of evolution."
-- Thomas Huxley
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