“Men must be prevented from looking at pictures of nude women! Let’s clean up the net and make it safe for women! Take back the net!” It’s coming folks. Censorship and governmental restrictions are right around the corner … The next steps will be letter-writing campaigns to system administrators, law suits against companies, and new governmental laws – how about two years in prison for an improper post? It’s coming … The net is a beautiful anarchy, just about the only one left on the face of the earth. Don’t kill it with censorship, laws, and lawsuits.
Predictor: Landwehr, Larry
Prediction, in context:In 1993, in the Computer Underground Digest, an open forum dedicated to sharing information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of diverse views, Larry Landwehr made the following observation: ”The LTES [London Times Educational Supplement] article is one of those pieces that will be seized upon by those who want to establish censorship on the net. Sexual harassment (why don’t they call it ‘gender harassment’?) must be stopped! ‘Men must be prevented from looking at pictures of nude women! Let’s clean up the net and make it safe for women! Take back the net!’ It’s coming folks. Censorship and governmental restrictions are right around the corner if articles such as the LTES one are propagated. The next steps will be letter-writing campaigns to system administrators, law suits against companies, and new governmental laws – how about two years in prison for an improper post? It’s coming … The net is a beautiful anarchy, just about the only one left on the face of the earth. Don’t kill it with censorship, laws, and lawsuits.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Censorship/Free Speech
Name of publication: Computer Underground Digest
Title, headline, chapter name: Some Comments on the London Times Educational Supplement Article
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest/CUDS5/cud529.txt
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne