WORTH READING James McGrath Morris - Spam Filters Threaten Free Speech on the Internet - washington post

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802282.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Blacklisted in Cyberspace

By James McGrath Morris
Saturday, November 29, 2008; A15

Spam was once a simple annoyance. But its exponential growth --  
reports suggest that about 90 percent of all e-mail is spam -- has led  
e-mail users to build daunting ramparts to block unwanted messages and  
companies to circulate blacklists of alleged spammers. One cannot  
fault people for seeking ways to avoid unwanted or aggressive  
solicitations, but the consequences of some anti-spam measures may not  
be what the people seeking protection from spam had in mind. Some  
efforts to block unwanted e-messages are threatening free speech on  
the Internet.

Consider some of my recent experiences: I publish a modest monthly  
newsletter, the Biographer's Craft, that is sent electronically to  
subscribers. My newsletter, as the name suggests, is hardly  
controversial.

Last month, before sending out the new issue, I ran the copy through  
some spam-checking software. Surprisingly, my score came back so high  
that many subscribers might never receive the issue.

I contacted the company that distributes my newsletter, and a staff  
member explained that three sets of words among the issue's many  
articles could derail my e-mail: a reference to "young adult," a  
common classification for books intended for adolescent readers; a  
sentence in my editorial -- "Speaking of legal matters, it's getting  
nasty out there" -- referring to the growing number of lawsuits; and a  
distinguished biographer's discussion of writing a book for children  
that included the following comment: "At my public library I queried  
the children's division librarian -- what works, what does not, who is  
'hot.' "



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