[Home]
May 23, 2002

[News]
EFF condemns hecklers

EFF regrets that several hecklers have been joining the BPDG conference call this afternoon to disrupt it. This behavior has been terribly counterproductive and could jeopardize even the minimal openness which the BPDG's negotiations enjoy, driving such discussions further underground. We condemn such immature activity.

Hecklers should be aware of the risk they pose to the public's access to and awareness of news events such as the BPDG process. Since BPDG chose to exclude journalists, public participation is especially important to provide journalists with a variety of independent sources. If public access appears to result in too many disruptions, however, it could be eliminated, at the price of all first-hand accounts.

Any process which aspires to openness or wishes to enjoy the appearance of openness may be faced with difficulties maintaining order. We hope that that difficulties will never be insurmountable, and further that they will never be made unnecessarily burdensome.

Posted by Seth Schoen at 05:14 PM