Netizens-Digest         Sunday, March 9 2003         Volume 01 : Number 429

Netizens Association Discussion List Digest

In this issue:

    Re: [netz] CNN.com - 'Peace' T-shirt gets man arrested - Mar. 6, 2003
    Re: [netz] CNN.com - Hong Kong detains Falun Gong arrivals - May 7, 2001

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Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2003 14:33:18 -0500
From: "Howard C. Berkowitz" <hcb@gettcomm.com>
Subject: Re: [netz] CNN.com - 'Peace' T-shirt gets man arrested - Mar. 6, 2003

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>While in Boston I saw and heard about this dictatorial outrage on
>television. I am posting it
>on our list for those around the world to know, in case some of you missed it.


I was also appalled by this (although I have to say it's of 
tangential relevance to Netizens).  The act itself, however, may 
raise some subtle questions.

1.  Was mall security, as representative of private management, within their
     rights to enforce their political opinion within the mall?

2.  Were these rights affected by the fact that the T-shirt in question was
     bought from a mall vendor?  Perhaps one could counter that Victoria's
     Secret sells things that might be judged inappropriate for the mall as
     a whole...:-)

3.  Once the official police were brought in, things get much more complex.
     If the police had absolutely restricted their activity to a trespassing
     issue in which the individual refused to leave at the orders of mall
     security, they might be within their rights -- although the arresteee
     may very well have civil action against the mall.

     If, however, any aspect of the police activity was associated with
     political expression, their actions are much harder to justify.

Since the defendant is an active part of the judicial system, I doubt 
we have heard the last of this. I'm reminded of the retrospective 
view of airline executives that Ralph Nader was the worst conceivable 
person to bump from a flight.

Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2003 14:37:17 -0500
From: "Howard C. Berkowitz" <hcb@gettcomm.com>
Subject: Re: [netz] CNN.com - Hong Kong detains Falun Gong arrivals - May 7, 2001

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>The forces of repression are active everywhere. If you notice a 
>member of the group
>is already saying "they're very low profile and were not even 
>wearing "FALUN-GONG T-SHIRTS". Sound similar? So folks do not wear 
>any t-shirts that might antagonize the authorities at Hong Kong or 
>Guilderland, NY.


I did respond to the earlier post, but I have to say that this is 
getting outside the scope of what I see is the most fruitful 
discussions of Netizens.  Were there a separate list that used the 
net to publicize examples of infringement on free speech, I would 
actively support it.

It could be a fair subject for Netizens to discuss how to create such 
a list or website, but then the content of that medium should diverge 
from Netizens.  A list where anything is germane is a list with so 
many wanderings as to be ineffective.  It's no accident that I 
subscribe to at least 50, if not a good many more, focused mailing 
lists and newsgroups, as well as virtual communities associated with 
web sites and bulletin boards. Many scalpels are more powerful than a 
single jackhammer.

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End of Netizens-Digest V1 #429
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