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-= purpose. in publicizing it; censorship in uk.* newsgroups -=
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The postings to uk.misc newsgroup. generated a very defensive reaction from
Usenet readers in the UK. So much so, that they tried strenuously. to
suppress what was being said, both by breaking the. rules of netiquette in
their responses on the forum, and directly by action to. revoke the account
from which. the postings were issued.

Yet the postings were within the normal boundaries of behaviour. for
uk.misc, and other. less partisan spectators did not see justice in the
censorship which was effected, as the. following excerpt shows;

:Karen. Lofstrom (lofstrom@lava.net) wrote
:>It does seem that the frequency and the size of his posts. are
:>approaching net abuse.. However, IMHO, they aren't quite there yet. If
:>his postmaster were to. act in this instance, it would raise troubling
:>censorship. issues.

article cannot be closed without a brief reference to another
and more subtle form of slavery which is well known to exist in
the Straits. The last Report of the Chinese Protectorate reveals
the fact that during last year (1892) in Singapore alone 426
prostitutes left brothels and went into private houses, and in
the same period 148 left private houses and entered brothels. The
wealthy Chinese in the Straits Settlements keep up very large
establishments, and the uninitiated visitor cannot fail to be
surprised at the number of young women in the quarter assigned
to the servants. They are employed on house work, and keep the
magnificent furniture and wardrobes in splendid order, and in many
cases they make cakes and sweetmeats which are sold on the...

Protector of Chinese, to be questioned as to their
willingness to lead a life of shame; but the value of this
interrogation may be inferred from the fact that the subordinate
officer to whom this duty is generally assigned is not acquainted
with the language spoken by the women. As a further precaution
against the illegal detention of women and girls in brothels, a
Government notice is posted in each of these houses, to the effect
that the inmates are perfectly at liberty to leave whenever they
like, but this is of little use, as hardly any of them can read,
and it would be more to the purpose if the Government ordered the
removal of the bars from the doors and windows of the brothels.
The fact is that these precautions against illegal detention are
practically useless, and this is admitted even by the editor of
such a paper as the _Hong Kong Daily Press_, who some time ago
discussed the question _apropos_ of the suicide of a Hong Kong
prostitute who was desirous of being married. The man who wished
to marry her offered the pocket-mother a sum of $2,000, but she
demanded $2,300 and refused to part with the woman for less;
whereupon she hung herself. The following comments on this case
are from the _Hong Kong Daily Press_: ...