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Excerpts from Electric Degeneration, Degenerate Press' semi-weekly e-zine, free and ad-free. A full episode contains sections for music reviews, upcoming events, blasphemy, classifieds, and anything else we feel like saying. If you'd like to subscribe just contact us.

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3/1/1998

EAR PLUGS:
Friday the Degenerate Press staff headed over to the Star Bar just in time to see the Hate Bombs. We had them pegged as grand finale, not the opening band, so we were lucky to catch them. What can we say, consitantly the highest BTU's of any band in the Southeast.
The Cowslingers from Ohio followed with a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, a little bit Elvis, even a little bit Bo Diddlely. They're good at it too, but they were a weird selection for the 60's mod of Hate Bombs and Woggles. The go go crowd didn't seem to mind too much, however. Unfortunately it got too late for us whimps to make it to the Woggles' portion of the show but we had no doubts as to its excellence.
BLASPHEMY features SOS's last word on the whole 1st Amendment vs. Capitalism thang. Coincidentally, I was looking at another story about a big internet service and stumbled across this post:
"AOL censuring my email. AOL decided that they had the power to censure my email starting last week.I subscribe to a newsletter that AOL apparently thought I didn't need to subscribe any more. They began deleting the newsletter altogether, without notifying either the sender or receiver. I have since canceled my subscription to AOL and hopefully have found a server that doesn't read and censure my mail!"
Again, because "it's their property" and "they can do what they want with it" this user is pretty much screwed. Yeah, he's cancelled and gotten another service but what if THAT service doesn't like his newsletter content? This is NOT free speach.
Just to let you know where a few other readers stand:
"Have enjoyed the ongoing free speech on the internet debate -- keep it coming!"
"I have read (with great interest) every installation of the RVI and SOS debate until this last, which smacks of playgroundesque nanny-nanny-boo-boo bravado. Please wreak your own editorial wisdom, and put a stop to this while SOS still has some bloody pulp left to be pulped, else RVI will reduce him/her to a mere cyber-smear."
ouch.
"Jesus, I am so god damn sick of this rhetoric. I told you once and I will tell you again...If everyone is so bent out of shape then do something. Stop telling me that all of your subscribers (especially SOS, RVI, and your editorial ass) are "Philosophers"...Some one has got to be an "Activist". Yes, the philosophers have brought a controversial issue about the "superhighway" via your "car" but after several weeks of arguing tit for tat has anything been done. Can you tell me that anyone is doing something besides deleting your messages? Ask you readers and see what they plan to do."
Uh... I dunno. Whad'you wanna do? ;)

BLASPHEMY, continued:
We could go about in circles for days with this, but I'd really rather not. We
seem to be coming at this from two different perspectives. I'm talking about
the way things -are- in this big stupid imperfect world, you're talking about
the way things -should- be in an ideal democratic society.
My main beef is that =forcing= someone to express a point of view is as much an
intrusion on First Amendment rights as =forbidding= someone to express a point
of view. A corporation is, legally, an individual--if their rights go, mine
could be next.
I also have a problem with depending on private corporations for our public
spaces. If Time Warner decided to shut down Pathfinder completely tomorrow,
they could, and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it. That was the
point I was trying to make more than anything--if you expect corporate-owned
spaces that resemble public forums to =be= public forums, you are in for a very
nasty surprise.
I think there needs to be more energy put into the creation and maintainence of
-actual- public spaces, instead of relying on corporations to provide them.
There are web browsing terminals available at certain public libraries--I'd
like to see more of this (the cybercafes might blanch at the competition, but
fuck 'em.) I've even heard of publicly provided email accounts. Since
cyberspace doesn't really have any physical limitations, surely we can set up
some national parks alongside the glitzy amusement parks of the world wide web.
That's my take on it.
degenerate SOS

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