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	Bill, I've had a chance to read your censorship policy now, and I 
wanted to tell you I like it very much.  May I make one suggestion, 
though, for clarity's sake?  It is that you reformat the two parapgraphs 
about the parental option so that the top of the second one runs in the 
same graf as the end of the first one.  I think some readers may take the
first line of the second one out of its context, and by itself it sounds 
like censorship.

> 	Consistent with building credibility, consumer users of the
> Newshare system will be invited to invoke a "parental option" when they
> enroll with their local or topic-specific Pubishing Member. This service 
> will then automatically check the publisher-assigned rating of documents 
> requested across the Newshare system.
> 
> 	If a document is voluntarily coded as unsuitable for viewing by a
> minor, it will not be transmitted to the user requesting it. This rating
> will not be assigned by Newshare Corp. It will be assigned by individual
> Publishing Member affiliates in the exercise of their publishing
> responsibility. 


	I would have it read like this:

 	"Consistent with building credibility, consumer users of the Newshare
system will be invited to invoke a "parental option" when they enroll with
their local or topic-specific Pubishing Member. 
	"This service will then automatically check the publisher-assigned
rating of documents requested across the Newshare system.  If a document
is voluntarily coded as unsuitable for viewing by a minor, it will not be
transmitted to the user requesting it.
	"This rating will not be assigned by Newshare Corp. It will be
assigned by individual Publishing Member affiliates in the exercise of
their publishing responsibility."

	(No words are changed.)

	I read the original the wrong way the first time, picking up that
some documents wouldn't be transmitted if unsuitable, but not that they 
are those documents deemed unsuitable by their source. 

Best,

Joe Shea
Editor-in-Chief
The American Reporter
joeshea@netcom.com
http://www.newshare.com/Reporter/today.html


On Thu, 8 Jun 1995, William P Densmore Jr. wrote:

> 
> OK, here's our policy. Any comments?
> 
>                          THE NEWSHARE CORP.
>                         POLICY ON CENSORSHIP
> 		        AND PARENTAL OPTION
> 
> 	Newshare Corp. believes effective democracy requires that
> free-speech protections cover the process of delivering information --
> whether on paper or electronically -- as well as creating and presenting
> it.
> 
> 	In the United States, common carriers of information have
> generally been exempt from the application of libel laws; while publishers
> must carefully manage their editorial process so as to fairly protect
> reputations and livelihoods. Where roles become mixed -- common carriage
> vs. publishing -- the media, public and courts are drawn into conflict. 
> 
> 	It is for this reason that Newshare Corp. believes common carriers
> of information -- cable operators, telephone companies and the like -- are
> plying dangerous waters for democracy by attempting themselves to become
> publishers.
> 
>        Newshare, as the Internet's first news brokerage, intends to
> separate its role as a common carrier from its role as a publisher. It
> will do this by offering enabling technology for Newshare consumers to
> "turn off" offensive material. But it will leave the decision about what
> to mark as offensive up to Newshare Publisher Members -- the content
> providers. 
> 
> 	On one hand, a Newshare Publishing Member who wants to use the
> Clickshare system to publish patently offensive -- but legal -- material,
> may do so. Moreover, a mere claim of illegality will not be sufficient to
> warrant overriding the publishers' prerogative. (Example: the Nixon
> administration believed it was illegal to publish the Pentagon Papers. The
> U.S. Supreme Court ruled otherwise.)
> 
> 	Newshare Corp. will never be in the business of telling its
> Publishing Members what they can and cannot publish, link to or exchange
> across the Clickshare(SM) system of billable hypertext links. Our strategy
> is to enable transfer of widely dispersed information -- for value -- in a 
> searchable, customizable format from a single user account. 
> 
> 	On the other hand, Newshare Corp. and the Newshare Syndicate are
> working hard to build credibility as a branded source of high-quality,
> personalized, local and topical news. Only those publishers which
> subscribe to Newshare's customer-service objectives will be awarded the
> right to use the Newshare name. 
> 
> 
> 	Newshare will not dictate the standard by which this designation
> is made. Consumers themselves may then decide which Publishing Member best
> reflects their values.  Newshare Corp. does not believe the government or
> a common carrier should be empowered to abridge this balance between 
> publishing responsibility and informed consumer choice.
> 
> 	Publishers who surreptitiously serve up offensive bytes must
> suffer the ill-will of consumers -- not Newshare and certain not the 
> government.
> 
> +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
> | Bill Densmore -- President                     NEWSHARE CORPORATION |
> | One Bank St., P.O. Box 367                    densmore@newshare.com | 
> | Williamstown MA  01267                        voice: (413) 458-8001 |
> | "The Internet's first news brokerage"       http://www.newshare.com | 
> +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 



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