[arin-discuss] Justifiable Censorship?

[Andrew Oliver]

On Feb 6, 2008, at 10:02 AM, Kyle Ackerman wrote:

> Mr. Plzak,
>
> Many of us would have to agree that Dean Anderson can be outright
> annoying.  He appears to have a significant amount of time to pursue
> angles and details that many of us would never consider nor take the
> time to discuss.  While I can't say I agree with his approach, nor  
> do I
> condone his "soapbox" approach, do you or we have the right to  
> restrict
> his First Amendment rights?  Is there really proof that he has  
> violated
> the ARIN AUP or is "someone" just tired of reading his emails?

All else aside, the First Amendment does not apply here.

The First Amendment applies only to restrictions on Congress' ability  
to pass laws affecting people's freedom of speech. It has no bearing  
in private entities.

This is a common misconception that a lot of people have.

http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0407a.asp

That doesn't affect whether it was right or not for ARIN to block Dean  
(or anyone else's) posts, but it is an ARIN matter, not a First  
Amendment one.

Andrew
:)