Path: sn.no!uninett.no!news.algonet.se!4.1.16.34.MISMATCH!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!zdc-e!szdc!newsp.zippo.com!rnewman From: rnewman@thecia.net (Ron Newman) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology,comp.org.eff.talk,alt.censorship Subject: Re: Internet Ventures, Inc. (Response) Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 10:22:31 -0400 Organization: None Lines: 51 Message-ID: References: <344cca1d.8671929@news.supernews.com> <344f85c8.61309398@news.calstate.edu> <34513C75.312B433B@tidepool.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: p-004.newsdawg.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Newsreader: Yet Another NewsWatcher 2.4.0 Xref: sn.no alt.religion.scientology:387675 comp.org.eff.talk:73777 alt.censorship:171230 In article <34513C75.312B433B@tidepool.com>, Donald Janke wrote: > This is an open letter to Netizens who have been following the dispute > between Grady Ward and Tidepool Internet. Thanks for coming here. You'll hear quite a lot. > Our actions in this dispute were necessitated by abusive and > defamatory > comments, in a single posting, that Grady directed towards another human > being. We became drawn into this posting when we received a formal > complaint regarding his postings. If this complaint was not from the person who was allegedly "defamed", then it has no merit whatsoever. Even if it was from Helena, then it's still a judgment call better left to the courts and not to an ISP. > We had no choice but to terminate his account, under the > original terms he himself agreed to upon opening his Tidepool account. Grady claims that you **CHANGED** the terms of service **AFTER** closing his account. Also, your acceptable use policies as posted on http://www.tidepool.com/html/acceptable_use_policies.html say: Off-topic or inappropriate postings: There is no restriction on content, except as defined by each newsgroup. Continued posting of off-topic articles is prohibited. and also Our belief in Free Speech is a firm commitment to our customers. and also Tidepool Internet does not censor the content of any newsgroups. We believe such choices should be left to the individual. Grady's posting was in no way "off-topic". > As a company our limit is set when a another netizen > complains that > they were offended by language so strong that a lawsuit could result. The only lawsuit that was threatened against Tidepool or IVI is the result of your yanking Grady's account. -- Ron Newman rnewman@thecia.net http://www2.thecia.net/users/rnewman/