[PLUG-TALK] Fadeley vs. Free Speech

[Keith Lofstrom]

Keith Lofstrom wrote:
>Letter to the Oregonian:
>
>Free speech is wild, not tame.  For the first time in history,
>the worldwide web permits individuals with limited resources
>to reach a global audience, and the rest of us to amplify or
>ignore them.  Judge Fadeley ("The Wild, Wild Web", June 18)
>would use the courts to restrict online expression and protect
>institutions from harm, yet does not mention the harm these
>institutions can do to individuals with legitimate grievances. 
>
>The cure for damaging speech is more speech; if you don't like
>what someone says on the web, you can use the web to rebut
>them.  In time, the better argument will prevail, regardless of
>the wealth or the institutional credentials of the opponents. 
>In an era of open discussion, some organizations will fail and
>others will prosper.  We should not prop up the losers.

It ran today (Weds AM), sorta.

You will note that the Oregonian left out the last two sentences.
When the editor called, she said she would run it "as is".  The
Oregonian has never run one of my letters as is;  they edit stuff
out, they misspell, and once they took out a "not".  I do not have
this problem when I publish in magazines.

The medium is the message, and the message is "we own this medium,
and we will change your message to suit us".  And that is why the
web, on servers in other countries if necessary, is a better channel
for free speech and accurate reporting than the credentialed media.

I would like to thank the Oregonian for proving my point. 

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs