X-Git-Url: https://code.delx.au/gnu-emacs/blobdiff_plain/10a0e6fe87378d0dafb5ce257aa60c8a1b25c708..6ffb560b2a940d19419ac5afe11418588ef8c61f:/etc/CENSORSHIP diff --git a/etc/CENSORSHIP b/etc/CENSORSHIP index 33da02ca10..a276331c57 100644 --- a/etc/CENSORSHIP +++ b/etc/CENSORSHIP @@ -1,87 +1,8 @@ - Censoring my Software - Richard Stallman - [From Datamation, 1 March 1996] +Censoring my Software +Note added March 2014: -Last summer, a few clever legislators proposed a bill to "prohibit -pornography" on the Internet. Last fall, right-wing Christians made -this cause their own. Last week, President Clinton signed the bill, -and we lost the freedom of the press for the public library of the -future. This week, I'm censoring GNU Emacs. +This file is obsolete and will be removed in future. +Please update any references to use -No, GNU Emacs does not contain pornography. It is a software package, -an award-winning extensible and programmable text editor. But the law -that was passed applies to far more than pornography. It prohibits -"indecent" speech, which can include anything from famous poems, to -masterpieces hanging in the Louvre, to advice about safe sex...to -software. - -Naturally, there was a lot of opposition to this bill. Not only from -people who use the Internet, and people who appreciate erotica, but -from everyone who cares about freedom of the press. - -But every time we tried to tell the public what was at stake, the -forces of censorship responded with a lie: they told the public that -the issue was simply pornography. By embedding this lie as a -presupposition in their statements about the issue, they succeeded in -misinforming the public. So here I am, censoring my software. - -You see, Emacs contains a version of the famous "doctor program", -a.k.a. Eliza, originally developed by Professor Weizenbaum at MIT. -This is the program that imitates a Rogerian psychotherapist. The -user talks to the program, and the program responds--by playing back -the user's own statements, and by recognizing a long list of -particular words. - -The Emacs doctor program was set up to recognize many common curse -words, and respond with an appropriately cute message such as, "Would -you please watch your tongue?" or "Let's not be vulgar." In order to -do this, it had to have a list of curse words. That means the source -code for the program was indecent. - -Because of the censorship law, I had to remove this feature. (I -replaced it with a message announcing that the program has been -censored for your protection.) The new version of the doctor doesn't -recognize the indecent words. If you curse at it, it curses right -back to you--for lack of knowing better. - -Now that people are facing the threat of two years in prison for -indecent network postings, it would be helpful if they could access -precise rules via the Internet for how to avoid imprisonment. -However, this is impossible. The rules would have to mention the -forbidden words, so posting them on the Internet would be against the -rules. - -Of course, I'm making an assumption about just what "indecent" means. -I have to do this, because nobody knows for sure. The most obvious -possible meaning is the meaning it has for television, so I'm using -that as a tentative assumption. However, there is a good chance that -our courts will reject that interpretation of the law as -unconstitutional. - -We can hope that the courts will recognize the Internet as a medium of -publication like books and magazines. If they do, they will entirely -reject any law prohibiting "indecent" publications on the Internet. - -What really worries me is that the courts might take a muddled -in-between escape route--by choosing another interpretation of -"indecent", one that permits the doctor program or a statement of the -decency rules, but prohibits some of the books that children can -browse through in the public library and the bookstore. Over the -years, as the Internet replaces the public library and the bookstore, -some of our freedom of the press will be lost. - -Just a few weeks ago, another country imposed censorship on the -Internet. That was China. We don't think well of China in this -country--its government doesn't respect basic freedoms. But how well -does our government respect them? And do you care enough to preserve -them here? - -If you care, stay in touch with the Voters Telecommunications Watch. -Look in their Web site http://www.vtw.org/ for background information -and political action recommendations. Censorship won in February, but -we can beat it in November. - -Copyright 1996 Richard Stallman -Verbatim copying and distribution is permitted in any medium -provided this notice is preserved. +