On (12 Sep 02) Dale Shipp wrote to Thom Lacosta...

Hello Dale,


 -=> On 09-12-02  06:51, Thom Lacosta <=-
 -=> spoke to Frank Vest about P4 Draft (ver. 5) <=-

 TL> Great answer....I wouldn't want my newspaper controlled by
 TL> any level of government...and strangely enough, unlike
 TL> Fidonet, my newspaper is not mentioned or sanctioned in my
 TL> state or national constitution.

 DS>   But a free press is mentioned in the constitution, just not a
 DS> specific   rag.

For some reason, I didn't receive the reply to me. :(

At any rate, I think that the Fidonews is mentioned for at least a
few of reasons.

1. Fidonet is not a national government. Call Fidonet a hobby or
whatever, but most organizations have some form of "newsletter" and
mention such in their "policy", or whatever document they have, simply
to "let it be known" that such exists.

2. The Fidonews was started by the founder of Fidonet and as such, has
been the "official" newsletter of Fidonet. Much the same way that some
governments have an "official" press to publish stuff in.

3. Although Fidonet calls the Fidonews a "newspaper", it is really a
"newsletter". Small difference, but significant.

4.Of course, there is nothing in P4 to prevent someone from starting
their own Fidonet newspaper/newsletter. It's just that the "Fidonews"
has always been "the" (only) newsletter of Fidonet and therefore,
mentioned in P4 without thought of the act giving political fuel to
anything. Maybe that is why there is only the one section covering the
Fidonews with no real rules or interlacing with the rest of P4.


Regards,

Frank

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/flv
http://biseonline.com/r19

--- PPoint 3.01