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LETTER: Legislation Needed, Not Vixie

I guess Paul Vixie’s right to control traffic on “his network” is, in his selfish opinion, the correct thing to do. It is unfortunate that most people do not know the path their e-mail message will take before it gets to its destination. If they did, they could stay clear of his precious network.

“No shirt, no shoes, no service.” Give me a break! Vixie’s inflated vision of the importance of his role in the decision of how and what e-mail is delivered makes me want to spontaneously combust every time I read about MAPS and the Realtime Blackhole List.

I guess you could use the analogy of Vixie as an owner of a portion of the state highway system. If he doesn’t like the style of your vehicle or, better yet, you don’t pass his transportation criteria, he’ll keep you off his road. It doesn’t matter that the cargo on board could be lifesaving, asked for or even beneficial to the recipient; if Vixie doesn’t like the method by which the message inside is delivered, then all of its kind are restricted at his will.

In addition, he has all these “friends” who happen to be owners of other highways, too. He gathers them together and tells them, “Let’s band together. For a nominal fee, I’ll be a tight-ass and monitor all traffic moving over our roads. There could be a butt-load of money available for us if we can sue one of the big companies that travel on these roads without our permission. I’ll even post signs telling those who are stupid enough to test me how to sue me.” Thank God, President Eisenhower developed a standardized plan for all of us to travel safely from state to state by helping the individual states build their roads.

Internet e-mail policy should be developed and standardized by a governing body that is objective and not too close to the issue, not by a greedy, vigilante owner of a part of the Internet network.

The beauty of the Internet is because of many people working together and for one another instead of for themselves. Because of this, information is able to move faster than ever before. It only takes one person to screw up something that allows people to have the world at their hands and many hours of enjoyment. You have to give a part of yourself to be able to receive it back.

•Peter D. George, [email protected]

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