You know, Stan, it's really very sad when courtesy is no longer a valid
reason for doing something. "Well, show me where it breaks THE LAW to do
this," "I would love to see a legal challenge on that one," and "taking a
magazine or newspaper to court." This is one of the reasons our society is so
totally screwed up. "Because I ask you, as a favor, and as a personal
courtesy," is not a good enough reason for some people.

I was not required to show that episode. Nobody made me. Nobody was
entitled to it. I did so as part of a compact between me and the audience
that we will keep the details between us, privately. I have done literally
dozens and dozens of conventions, exercised this compact dozens of times, and
to date, not ONE PERSON has ever violated that gentleman's agreement. Except
you. Who wasn't even THERE, and took the message out of private mail...why?
Because you want to be FIRST. Because in the on-line community, knowledge =
power. And because you want it, and unless you get what you want, you're
going to stamp your foot and carry on cranky and scream and yell that
everybody else should change the rules to accommodate you.

This is not a censorship issue. GEnie is a *private corporation*, just
like a newspaper. And any newspaper can choose, for itself, what it selects
for publication, or not to publish. It has the right, and the responsibility,
because it provides the venue. Freedom of speech in the press or the
electronic media is a function of who's paying the bill. You can't go around
screaming "I'm being censored" because a magazine saw your letter and decided
it was dopey and didn't publish it. It's their call. This is GEnie's call,
and the call of those who work for GEnie.

Constitutional free speech means if you can't publish it in one place you
can go and do it yourself. You can set up a BBS of your own somewhere and
publish this to your heart's content. Nobody's going to stop you, this isn't
about laws, or rules, or ratings, it's a simple request from me, and the
courteous agreement to that request by others. You are trying to negate what
they and I have agreed to, because you want to. Because your perception of
your "rights" (which do not exist in a service like GEnie which is not a
democracy, is paid for via a corporation privately owned) is that it matters
more than my rights to make this request, more than the sysops to honor that
request, more than the structure of GEnie, more important than the wishes of
the users here, more important thjan the future convention goers who might
find no further screenings....

Because you want to be *first*. Very few can actually DISCUSS the
episode, because it hasn't aired. Only the relative handful in the room. So
there's not much they can really add to it. You weren't even THERE. You just
want to run into the room waving the synopsis because you feel it gives you
some kind of status. And the hell with everybody else.

Some studio types don't like episodes being screened ahead of the
broadcast; so I try and keep a low profile on this to avoid causing them
headaches. Which is, essentially, what I said at the time, and was known and
understood by everyone who was there, of which you were not one. So in your
ignorance of the situation, you potentially complicate things
further...because you wanna this, and you wanna that.

It's a sad world when the only thing you respect is the sound of your own
voice.

jms