CMU LOSES NEWSGROUPS

Computing Services will implement this policy on Tuesday, November
8th by removing the following bulletin board trees.

The following are answers to common questions regarding the removal of these illegal bulletin boards which we hope will help you to understand the rationale regarding this change:

Q. Is this censorship?
A. The criteria for removing a bboard is not whether the material is offensive, but whether making the material available to minors violates criminal law.

Q. Who made this decision?
A. It was proposed by Bill Arms, Vice President for Computing Services, and approved by the Academic Council.

Q. Why now?
A. A Carnegie Mellon study has identified the problem. As soon as the problem became known, the university had a legal obligation to act.

Q. Why is rec.arts.erotica being removed?
A. The material on rec.arts.erotica is sexually explicit and cannot be distributed to minors. There is no practical way to restrict minors from accessing this information, short of removing the bulletin boards.