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Cyhist Jun 11 1997 F
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Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 14:47:53 -0400
Reply-To: andrew stellman <roo@anon.razorwire.com>
Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: andrew stellman <roo@ANON.RAZORWIRE.COM>
Subject: Re: [archiving MUDs/MOOs]
In-Reply-To: <199706111817.LAA02427@proxy2.ba.best.com> MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
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Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
On Wed, 11 Jun 1997, Anthony Spataro wrote:
>You can take care of the issue of privacy by giving rooms a Private flag. Any event that transpires in a private room doesn't get recorded.
i think one very important thing to get from this discussion is that it's becoming increasingly important for every citizen to be aware when information is public, and when it is private.
one of my favorite examples of private vs. public is privacy with phone conversations and dialed numbers. when you dial a number on the telephone, that number is public (because it is broadcast to the phone company, and other third parties). police can request this information at any time without a warrant. however, the phone conversation that takes place once the connection is made is private. in order to tap your phone, the police need a warrant.
when we use credit cards, book hotels and planes, buy magazines, etc., we transmit information to the credit card company, the hotel, the airline or the publisher. it's important to know how that information is going to be used -- if you don't want that information used in the way it's being used, you shouldn't use that service (or request that it isn't used in an offensive manner).
your system for making MUDs private is good, but in my opinion the most important part of any such system is that the user knows whether or not what he is doing is private. this applies to archiving, but it also applies to spreading information obtained in a MUD. it's difficult to explicitly determine whether a given user feels that the MUD is private or public.
>Of course, not every MUD would want to have this recording system. Let's face it; 99% of the things that happen on a MUD are completely useless in the long run.
i realize that you meant this as a harmless comment, but it's an argument that we all need to be aware of. even if information is useless, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be protected if it's private.
andrew
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: andrew stellman <roo@anon.razorwire.com>
Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: andrew stellman <roo@ANON.RAZORWIRE.COM>
Subject: Re: [archiving MUDs/MOOs]
In-Reply-To: <199706111817.LAA02427@proxy2.ba.best.com> MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
On Wed, 11 Jun 1997, Anthony Spataro wrote:
>You can take care of the issue of privacy by giving rooms a Private flag. Any event that transpires in a private room doesn't get recorded.
i think one very important thing to get from this discussion is that it's becoming increasingly important for every citizen to be aware when information is public, and when it is private.
one of my favorite examples of private vs. public is privacy with phone conversations and dialed numbers. when you dial a number on the telephone, that number is public (because it is broadcast to the phone company, and other third parties). police can request this information at any time without a warrant. however, the phone conversation that takes place once the connection is made is private. in order to tap your phone, the police need a warrant.
when we use credit cards, book hotels and planes, buy magazines, etc., we transmit information to the credit card company, the hotel, the airline or the publisher. it's important to know how that information is going to be used -- if you don't want that information used in the way it's being used, you shouldn't use that service (or request that it isn't used in an offensive manner).
your system for making MUDs private is good, but in my opinion the most important part of any such system is that the user knows whether or not what he is doing is private. this applies to archiving, but it also applies to spreading information obtained in a MUD. it's difficult to explicitly determine whether a given user feels that the MUD is private or public.
>Of course, not every MUD would want to have this recording system. Let's face it; 99% of the things that happen on a MUD are completely useless in the long run.
i realize that you meant this as a harmless comment, but it's an argument that we all need to be aware of. even if information is useless, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be protected if it's private.
andrew
______________________________________________________________________
