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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/censoring-emacs.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/censoring-emacs.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f4c0829 --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/censoring-emacs.html @@ -0,0 +1,163 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> +<!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 --> +<title>Censoring My Software +- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> +<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/censoring-emacs.translist" --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> +<h2>Censoring My Software</h2> + +<p> +by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/"><strong>Richard Stallman</strong></a> +<br /> +[From Datamation, March 1 1996]</p> + +<p> +Last summer, a few clever legislators proposed a bill to +“prohibit pornography” on the Internet. Last fall, the +right-wing Christians made this cause their own. Last week, President +Clinton signed the bill. This week, I'm censoring GNU Emacs.</p> +<p> +No, GNU Emacs does not contain pornography. It's 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.</p> +<p> +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.</p> +<p> +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 other statements about the issue, they +succeeded in misinforming the public. So now I am censoring my +software.</p> +<p> +You see, Emacs contains a version of the famous “doctor +program,” a.k.a. Eliza, originally developed by Professor +Weizenbaum at <abbr title="Massachusetts Institute of +Technology">MIT</abbr>. 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.</p> +<p> +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.</p> +<p> +So this week I removed that feature. The new version of the doctor +doesn't recognize the indecent words; if you curse at it, it replays +the curse back to you—for lack of knowing better. (When the new +version starts up, it announces that it has been censored for your +protection.)</p> +<p> +Now that Americans face the threat of two years in prison for indecent +network postings, it would be helpful if they could access precise +rules for avoiding imprisonment via the Internet. However, this is +impossible. The rules would have to mention the forbidden words, so +posting them on the Internet would violate those same rules.</p> +<p> +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.</p> +<p> +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.</p> +<p> +What really worries me is that the courts might choose a muddled +half-measure—by approving an interpretation of +“indecent” that permits the doctor program or a statement +of the decency rules, but prohibits some of the books that any child +can browse through in the public library. Over the years, as the +Internet replaces the public library, some of our freedom of speech +will be lost.</p> +<p> +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?</p> + +<p> +[This paragraph is obsolete:] +</p> + +<p> +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.</p> + +</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> +<div id="footer"> +<div class="unprintable"> + +<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to +<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. +There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> +the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent +to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> + +<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, + replace it with the translation of these two: + + We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality + translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. + Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard + to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> + <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> + + <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of + our web pages, see <a + href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations + README</a>. --> +Please see the <a +href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations +README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations +of this article.</p> +</div> + +<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to + files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should + be under CC BY-ND 3.0 US. Please do NOT change or remove this + without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. + Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the + document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the + document was modified, or published. + + If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too. + Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying + years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable + year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including + being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system). + + There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers + Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --> + +<p>Copyright © 1996, 2014 Richard Stallman</p> + +<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" +href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/">Creative +Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License</a>.</p> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> + +<p class="unprintable">Updated: +<!-- timestamp start --> +$Date: 2014/04/12 12:39:58 $ +<!-- timestamp end --> +</p> +</div> +</div> +</body> +</html> |