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Author Message
25 new of 335 responses total.
slynne
response 271 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 20:37 UTC 2001

I dont think it would be good for grex to bar someone from getting a 
membership because they dont like their views unless you guys really are 
ready to admit that grex really does have "insiders" who get treated 
differently than everyone else. 

Just curious. What would you guys do if a bunch of jp2 types really 
started becoming the majority here?
jp2
response 272 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 20:38 UTC 2001

This response has been erased.

pthomas
response 273 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 20:39 UTC 2001

268: Grex is a political organisation? Whoa, better call the IRS...Grex
has 501(c)(3) unlike those other groups are mentioned. They have a duty to
not engage on political issues that do not pertain to their survival, and
a duty not to discriminate against individuals because they believe in
following the law.

The DMCA lays out a mechanism for dealing with disputes regarding
copyrighted material without going to the courts. It goes something like
this: the complainant has to ask for his materials to be removed before he
can sue. Mr Howard has done that. If Grex insists on violating the law, it
will pay the consequences of violating the law.
krj
response 274 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 20:40 UTC 2001

My revision in resp:270 was to clarify the distinction between 
belief and action.
brighn
response 275 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 20:45 UTC 2001

How do I contradict myself, Ken? Maybe you misunderstood. Rephrase:

(1) Rather than claiming that Jamie's rights have or have not been violated,
why don't we just let Jamie decide whether or not to sue (yeah, right), and
then leave it to the courts to decide.

(2) I do wonder why Jamie (or anyone) would want to stay somewhere that they
feel is violating their rights, to the degree that they feel compelled to
make strong demands about what staff MUST do.

(3) So far, all Jamie has done is huff and puff. If he were to vandalize Grex,
or sue it, then by all means, block his membership. Until then, big whoop.

Where's the contradiction? I don't care if Jamie *is* in the right, I don't
see how his suing Grex wouldn't be grounds for blocking his membership.
brighn
response 276 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 20:47 UTC 2001

#271> I concur entirely. The only criterion for whether Grex should block
membership is if the applicant is creating obvious harm to Grex, either by
vandalizing equipment, hacking security, or bringing suit. Defamation and
idiocy have been rights of Grex users for a long time; I've enjoyed them
myself. ;}
jp2
response 277 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 20:51 UTC 2001

This response has been erased.

slynne
response 278 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 21:28 UTC 2001

Geez, I mean if you are going to kick *anyone* off for being an asshole 
it should be russ. 
jp2
response 279 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 21:32 UTC 2001

This response has been erased.

senna
response 280 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 22:34 UTC 2001

I have no opinion in this whole stupid chip shot conversation that has been
going on, but isn't firing someone who sues grex sort of like Ford firing a
woman for suing them for sexual harrassment?

It's not like blocking him would stop him or anything.
danr
response 281 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 22:37 UTC 2001

Here's a scenario for you:

- jp2 sues Cyberspace Communications.
- Cyberspace goes out of business.
- Grexers move over to MNet, taking over because we have way more 
paying members than MNet.
- Grexers vote jp2 out of office yet again.
danr
response 282 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 22:39 UTC 2001

And for the record, I don't think we should try to block jp2's 
membership. If he wants to give us money, why not? (Not that I think he 
really will.)
jp2
response 283 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 22:39 UTC 2001

This response has been erased.

krj
response 284 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 22:49 UTC 2001

The scenario I outlined in resp:281 had occurred to me.  
Unless there are some deep pockets standing by ready to buy lots 
of gift citizenships, the cheapest voting rights package for Arbornet,
the next election in April is likely to have a pool of about 20 
qualified candidates and voters.   They could easily be outvoted by 
a flood of displaced Grexers.  :)
krj
response 285 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 22:52 UTC 2001

"The scenario danr outlined in resp:281..."   ack
 
In light of Phil's comments about Grex's obligation to take all 
membership applicants, for which I would not mind a citation, 
I withdraw my proposal to bar jp2 from Grex membership.
 
My proposal to bar the further entry of all text authored by 
James Howard, simply to avoid further lawsuits, still stands. :)
pthomas
response 286 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 22:55 UTC 2001

I never said that all comers must be taken...just that if you're going to
refuse to let Jamie be a member, you should probably come up with a better
reason than "Jamie has asserted his rights under the DMCA," seeing that
under the 501(c)(3) Grex is supposed to be apolitical.
jp2
response 287 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 22:57 UTC 2001

This response has been erased.

other
response 288 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 30 23:29 UTC 2001

I encourage jp2 to become a member.  The extra income can't hurt.  
janc
response 289 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 31 01:02 UTC 2001

I see no reason not to accept a membership from jp2.  If he wanted some kind
of special terms - like joining without showing id or something, that'd be
different.  I have no problem with members who threaten Grex.  In some cases,
a threat might be perceived by a person as the best way to induce Grex to do
something that they think needs to be done for Grex's own good.
scg
response 290 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 31 01:08 UTC 2001

The great thing about free speech is that it covers even those advocating an
end to free speech, the "no free speech for fascists" crowd, and so forth.
Grex of course isn't bound by the First Ammendment, but I was always under
the impression free speech was an important principle.
eeyore
response 291 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 31 02:07 UTC 2001

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the concept of barring people from donating
or posting to Grex completely what we've been trying to work against?????
janc
response 292 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 31 02:12 UTC 2001

You are totally right.
swa
response 293 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 31 06:03 UTC 2001

Re 219:  I actually didn't get the sense at all that the belief that board
meetings should be ftf comes from a belief that "those of us in other
places don't have much to contribute."  I, at least, feel like my
contributions are quite welcome here.  I think if I were serving on a
board, particularly for something like Grex, I'd want to meet with my
fellow board members in person, simply because I think I work better with
people I can see and interact with in person.  To me it seemed like a
concern for group dynamics, not parochialism.  (I did think janc's
comments on experimenting more with other types of meetings made some good
points, though.)

Re 156 (md) and 160 (scott):
(Just as long as we're all bitching about what irritates us about Grex and
about one another...)  Um, I've played Grammar Police on occasion,
usually when people had particular questions about something or said they
weren't sure how to spell something, or whatever.  But I don't get this
trend toward correcting others' spelling unasked.  Is it to prove that
you're smarter than they are?  Is it because you're afraid that if you
don't point out the error they'll corrupt everyone else reading it with
their poor spelling?  Is it simply some obsessive need to correct poor
spelling when you see it?  (I do that too, mentally, but don't feel the
need to type the correctly spelled word each time.)  You two aren't the
only ones I've seen doing this, but it's irritating.  I tend to be quite a
good speller, but I don't generally think better of people because they're
good spellers.  If they start correcting other people's spelling right and
left, I tend to have quite the opposite impression.  It seems rude, and
increasingly common here.  Anyone have any thoughts on why?  I'm genuinely
puzzled.

(This is probably not the best place for this question, but this item
seems to be full of tangents, so what the hell.)

gelinas
response 294 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 31 06:09 UTC 2001

I sometimes (always?) offer a correct spelling, but it's because I think
they _want_ the correct spelling but don't have it to hand.

Offering information is what I do.
scg
response 295 of 335: Mark Unseen   Oct 31 07:35 UTC 2001

re 293:
        I should apologize for the way I said some things in #219, I think.
I've been sick, and wanting to go do stuff but having no energy to do anything
other than sitting here on Grex, so I ended up venting a bunch of frustration
in this item.  I still believe what I said was true, but I should have phrased
it a lot less harshly, and been more clear.  I don't think anybody in this
discussion really believes people who don't live near Ann Arbor don't have
much to contribute, but it certainly seemed to me that there was a strong
sense (who knows, maybe it's even right, but I find him entertaining) that
Jamie didn't have much to contribute.  It seemed to me that Jamie's
location was being attacked unfairly, by people who were really upset about
something unrelated.

I'll certainly agree that, all other things being equal, in person meetings
do have advantages.  When meeting in person is easy, I'll usually choose to
meet in person rather than over the phone.  Still, I don't think it's the most
important factor.  I think Grex, with its worldwide user base, would lose a
lot more by restricting its board to Ann Arbor area people than it would by
allowing board members to phone into board meetings.
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