These are the messages I have received so far on the subject of whether or not to delete the Snuffit magazine from etext.archive.umich.edu. (This is NOT all the mail I've received complaining about their email spam, just the mail regarding whether it should still be available for access via anonymous ftp). At current rate, I am inclined to let it be, and it appears that most (of an admittedly small sample) agree with that decision. I very much doubt that my decision will influence CoE's possible future spamming attacks either way (and I furthermore doubt that their decision to spam the net had any basis in the fact that I agreed to provide archive space for it to begin with). -- Paul Southworth ETEXT Archivist pauls@cic.net Each message separated by "-----". ----- I don't think there is any justification for removing "snuffit" from etext.. I appreciate that etext carries a wide range of materials. ----- The SnuffIt folks were wrong to do mass unsolicited emailings. I was the "victim" of one such act, and it made me angry. However, I also think these people are entitled to make one big net.mistake. They've received their reprimand (from their cancelled accounts and the hostility they have generated on the net). Declining to carry their material is pointless, unless they keep up the unsolicited mailings. ----- I don't mean to sound flipant or angry at you, but why do you give this person safe haven for his ftp docs? I know that the internet is supposed to be freely axcessable by everyone, but why should we help this person who appears to only be hateful? Thanks. Just inquiring about something that upsets me!!! ----- Good for you. Don't censor the SnuffIt stuff, but maybe you can stop the e-mailing spam, huh? ----- These people may be fanatics, but they are not lunatics. Even if they were lunatics, they have as much right to space on an FTP/gopher site as anyone else; even if every single member of the church were on death row for murder, that should not be a reason to obliterate their presence from the net. If indeed their internet access has been taken away, then the only impact they can have on the net, and the lives of the 20 million internet users, is through their remaining writing: a single issue of Snuffit. In the past I have found that your FTP site has done a commendable job at upholding First Ammendment rights, giving an uncensorred outlet for alternative literature.... Now I may have to re-think this assumption. Your README file is an invitation for people to complain about the writings of the Church of Euthanasia, and it almost suggests that you do not wish to archive their zine. I am fully aware that you are donating your hardware and processing cycles to the free spread of information, whether or not you personally agree with its content. However, your position on the Church of Euthanasia seems contrary to the ethical standard which you have upheld until now. I urge you not the remove their material from your site, and to treat it with the same respect as any other publication in your archives. (remove the README from their directory). Your etext archives are a refreshing alternative to USA Today and other mainstream media. If you were to impose any form of censorship, it would be a huge blow to the already shaky constitutional status of independant electronic publishing. ----- please leave these materials in the archive. this stuff might be tasteless and insensitive, but it is also thoughtful. ----- I believe that anyone who send unsolicited mass e-mailings should not be supported or encouraged in that effort. These people are using MY resources to advertise something to me that I do NOT want. I think you should remove these materials from the archive. Thank you. ----- I am one of those thousands who got the e-mail from the Snuffit folks. I can't say that I agree with their position, but I do believe they have a right to express it. I am an information junky and a firm advocate of free speech so that position is not surprising. My position is that I am much better off knowing that these kinds of positions are out there, than I would be if I were protected form knowing about it. I am on of those people who is fed up with the government and the news media lying to us and hiding the facts from our tender ears. I certainly keeps the powerful in power but it obviously doesn't lead to valid decission making. Many of these decissions effect the lives of generations as yet unborn, and to me that is a sicker crime than anything this Snuffit group has done. Please leave their material available for all to see. I know that there are many others out there that feel as I do. ----- First, many thanks for maintaining your archive site! It is an extremely valuable Net resource! As to Snuffit magazine, I received their e-mail, and was *not* offended. It was funny, silly, and intelligent (I mean the style, not necessarily the content), and contained a nice ascii-art. The magazine itself is pretty good, too--lots of ecological info that we really *should* be aware of (this is clearly the group's motivation), and the encounter with the police is priceless! I guess you might be concerned about the explicit suicide instructions--going out into the woods, etc. If so, you could edit that part out. But please keep the rest, and carry their future issues (if they still have an account left to mail them from :^). ----- You asked for any opinions so here's mine: Isn't there enough wierdos on the net without promoting those sending out unsolicited trash which you are archiving in "snuffit"? My "vote" is: delete it! ----- In the matter of the Zine SnuffIt, while I didn't much appreciate the unsolicited mail, I hardly think it justifies removal of this material. And unread, I would say that there is no content, no idea, no words that should ever be denied expression, if only to serve as a warning to us all... ----- I read your note the README gopher://locust.cic.net/00/Zines/Snuffit/Readme. I think that you should definitely remove the snuffit materials from your archive. Aside from my opinion that this stuff is pure, unadulterated trash, why encourage idiots who misuse the net (mass mailings) by providing them with a forum ? Without a forum for their ideas, they are nothing... Thanks for listening to my opinion on the subject. ----- I find the unsolicited email message I've received from revk@shore.net offensive. Please remove their material from your ftp site. -----