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The Community Blackboard
The Boston Globe has a column by Ellen Goodman about a community blackboard, a monument put up not for a dead president or war hero but to free expression. Read more about the project.
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then a movie studio employee or a scientologist can just erase it.
..."
that's the difference between a web page and a blackboard...you don't need a court order to remove offending material from a blackboard.
now, what happens when someone starts erasing while someone else is writing? i can't wait to see the police reports from that one.
"man arrested for putting a stick of chalk up another man's
It's good to see our little monument here on Slashdot. Here's the story behind this uniquely Charlottesvillian creation.
Sometime around 1995 or 1996, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Speech had the idea that we should have a monument to free speech. They created a board, and asked for submissions from the public sometime in '98ish, IIRC. They got a lot of submissions, some quite creative, but the best one (and thus the winner) was the idea of having a chalkboard. Well, the board selected that one, though surely they knew full well that they were opening a can of worms.
City Council, as you can imagine, was not thrilled with this. The location of this monument was to be directly in front of city hall. It hadn't occurred to them that they were setting themselves up for a 60' wall; they were thinking maybe a small sculpture or something. So the topic was debated before council, and the general consensus was "what if somebody says something bad?"
Council finally voted on it a few weeks ago, and it, fortunately, passed. It very nearly didn't. The tricky thing about a proposal like this is that there's no turning it down. Once the genie is out of the bottle (to use the GPL comparison), anybody voting against it can be derided as being anti-free speech. Perhaps not fairly; one could be opposed to it for asthetic reasons, as Councilman Toscano was. (I think he actually voted against it for those very reasons.)
My mother (a commentator for NPR) had a reading at the TJ Center just last week, coincidentally. I spoke with the director of the center about this very topic, as it's a hot one in town. We talked about some of the practical problems.
What if somebody erases somebody else's writing?
Tough. We can't very well pass a long against erasing other people's ideas. In fact, that would accomplish the very opposite of what is intended by this monument. (BTW, I call it a "memorial," because of Charlottesville's serious First Amendment violations, like the youth curfew. So everybody has to accept that whatever they write could be erased immediately afterwards.
What if it's used for commercial purposes?
That's speech, too. Let it happen. It would be great if it were so popular and oft-visited (people don't tend to congregate by City Hall, save for during Fridays After Five) that, say, Trax started writing their weekly line-up on that wall. That would be OK.
What if people write hate-speech? What if the KKK writes nasty things?
They get to do that. Other people also get to erase it.
People will inevitably spray-paint it. Won't it be ruined quickly?
Perhaps, but there's an easy solution. This chalkboard will have a surface that is spray-painted on. If it gets defaced, it's easy to cover over the defaced area so that people can keep writing.
Will it ever be fully erased? By whom?
It hasn't been fully decided how often to erase it, whose job that will be, etc. Mostly because nobody knows how popular it will be. Could be daily, could be weekly, could be monthly.
What if somebody says something defamatory?
What if somebody puts up posters that are defamatory? There are laws in place to handle this. No problem.
The timeline for this is that it should be in by the end of 2002. The City is in the process of changing the whole layout of that area of downtown, so I think that they want to roll this work into that. Waiting until 2002 gives the TJ Center time to raise money, too, which is important. If anybody is interested in donating to this project, you can find contact info on their site. BTW, this is all recreated from memory, so I apologize for factual errors and such.
-Waldo
It has been replaced by:
"Make random acts of beauty and senseless violence."
Kind of a "make Love AND War".
"Trademarks are the heraldry of the new feudalism."
Sorry, /. didn't log me in when I posted. It was I. :)
-Waldo
I think I am the local 2600 group. :) And, yes, I fully intend to write DeCSS (the short, 4-line one) on there 1st thing. :)
-Waldo
You're right, of course. I must admit that I don't know the origins of Beta Bridge, but I've enjoyed the ever-changing messages on there in the past decade or so that I've been paying attention. I think that the only thing that makes the City chalkboard different is that it's intended for less-intensive messages. That is, it takes a lot less work, for better or for worse, to write something on a chalkboard.
Anyhow, yes, UVa definitely gets the prize for doing this far, far ahead of C'ville. I feel foolish for not thinking of that.
-Waldo
Oh wow. Imagine the first post opportunities...
Wow, Scott McNealy was right - we really don't have anonymity any more (I know, he said privacy, but it's close enough). This boggles the mind - the Klansmen out burning crosses at midnight or bank robbers with ski masks aren't going to obey the law anyway, so all this does is clamp down on anonymous political speech in the public arena. Even the founding fathers used pseudonyms; what do you think they'd feel about these dumb laws?
We could get rid of the KKK by performing random house-to-house searches for white supremacist literature too, but you don't see any states adopting that policy, do you? Wait, I better stop before I give people ideas :)
Caution: contents may be quarrelsome and meticulous!
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
Heck, you're not allowed to put DeCSS on your web page either, but I don't imagine that was your point :)
Caution: contents may be quarrelsome and meticulous!
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
I was constantly tempted to paint over frat party advertisements with "THIS IS NOT A BILLBOARD" in huge letters. But I thought there was a pretty good amount of legitimate artistic expression overall.
(Pomona class of '98)
/* The beatings will continue until morale improves. */
This is a forum in which most if not all messages will be anonymous. It seems to be very hard to keep signal above noise in this kind of forum.
Of course, there's plenty of censorship built in, in that unpopular / socially unacceptable statements will be more likely to be erased.
I wonder if they've considered the fact that 'good' people will use the chalk and 'bad' people will use paint...
/* The beatings will continue until morale improves. */
So what happens when someone writes the source to DeCSS or "slanders" a Scientoligist...
Quite a fascinating thing to watch. The cube quickly became a popular meeting place though, so many messages were along the lines of "I'm 10 minutes late" or "Meet me at the other place instead".
It's just like a technologist to take a simple, uncluttered interface and attempt to complicate it with "improved" technology. Adding a webcam, webserver, internet access and administration costs could kill the project. Keep it simple.
Also, by just allowing the world to view the board will affect what is written.
If you want to see what the board says, then just visit it. If instead, you want to publish opinions on the web, well there are plenty of ways to do that.
Wild.
I was just discussing the idea of a public writing slate over on irc.indymedia.org today. Specifically, I've been mulling over locating a large piece of white paper and pasting it up along one of the construction barriers in downtown Toronto, with some markers and an invitation to express oneself. I figure with the loads of ads for CDs, movies, dance parties, restaurants and future fucked dot.coms, why not give the people who walk by them a chance to say something of their own?
NOW magazine once tried a similar concept for an ad campaign (third item down). Large blank ads with the slogan "Speak your mind" and pens were put up in subway stations throughout Toronto, the idea being people could express themselves. The transit authority ordered the ads removed, but it was worth a shot.
We need more community forums in the community, not just on a server in some far-off state where only those "in-the-know" are aware of them.
Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
> @#( ?%& #$(*(& jews! @#(&%@# &%* nigga sh#@( ?*^
:)
If that happens, which it probably will, I think it will be a good reflection of american culture in 2001.
Just think, in 2100 kids can look at pictures of it in history books and see how _good_ things used to be.
They mention raising "private funds" to build the thing, but unfortunately aren't real clear about how one goes about making a contribution.
Not sure about DeCSS, but scientology will have a way to "protect" themselves against free expression on this place: they'll just assign a "handler" to it, who watches the board day and night, and videotapes/harasses anybody who sets out to write anything anti-clam on it.
Thanks! The net is a wonderful source of information, some of it true. :)
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Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
The quote is,
?Those who would trade their liberties for a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.?
Another good one:
If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money it values more, it will lose that, too.
-- W. Somerset Maugham
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Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
Monument:
- - - - -
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
Aren't monuments erected to celebrate things that have passed? Shouldn't a culture that embraces free expression and the curious study of new ideas be enough of a "monument"?
Oh, wait...
- - - - -
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
"It was two young architects, Peter O'Shea and Robert Winstead, who came up with the simple and dramatic idea of a chalkboard. ''We started with the idea that for the project to be successful it had to be confrontational,'' says O'Shea. It wasn't to be a static place where people would bow to free speech, but a fluid, dynamic, controversial space where they would exercise it."
When did a slate become confrontational???
SERIOUSLY, after a hit on the bong, and a bit of converstation, my friends and I will come up with several ideas that are simple but clever. But we are not allowed to excersize them freely on public land. But because these two are officially licensed architects, they can come up with "fulid, dynamic, controversial space" for the public to excersize their opinion. Thousands have alread put up graffiti walls or comment boards on their web sites. How does this differ?
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
In my opinion, it just shows the truly cowardly nature of students who are unable to face their problems head on in a constructive and thoughtful manner. Instead, you get anonymous posts bashing other human beings for no reason except that there is a personal dislike for them. Well, I'm sorry, but take your problems to the problem itself and discuss it... Work it out... Find a solution. Don't go and act in childish ways. Deal with the matter with maturity and respect.
The education system in this country is not the fault of the parents, the government, the schools, the administrations or the teachers. These people are just trying to educate a bunch of kids who have no respect at all for educating themselves, who are the real center of the issue. I feel sorry for the teachers of our country, who are hit from both sides every day, ridiculed by students for just trying to do their job and then lambasted by the parents for not educating their children. It's just a sad state of affairs.
The students cry to be treated like they have important thoughts to say, but websites like the ones you pointed out just go to show the real nature of their minds.
This, of course, brings us back to the "community blackboard," which I foretell will become a breeding ground for hate messages, incoherent scribblings, marketing drivel and goat.sex writings. That's the nature of the beast and just goes to show the truth about who we are as human beings. Once you remove the responsibility from people of standing behind their thoughts and ideas in a face to face medium, they turn into a bunch of raving lunatics.
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+1 Insightful, -1 Troll. What can I say, I'm an Insightful Troll.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Isn't that what this is?
k.
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"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
At my school (Pomona College) There is a long wall, approx, 5x150 ft called Walker Wall (it's outside Walker Dorm, and borders the Walke Beach) where people are supposedly allowed to paint whatever they want on it.
/. post, most of what is going to get put up on such billboards is inane crap.
This has, of course, garnered some controversy. E.G when someone painted a quote from some Adam Sandler stand up skit mentioning lesbians or something. Most of the things painted on it are pretty inane, and mostly stupid. Sometimes taggers get creative and put up some interesting tags. It's used as kind of an advertisement a lot.
Sometimes there are protests/real causes that get featured. Most people ignored the wall. A lot of the painting involved frat related party advertisements.
I liked that it was supposed to represent freedom of speech, but at least in our closed, college community, it was a big billboard for advertisements most of the time. Also it was pretty stagnant. Sometimes at night some group would whitewash it and paint the whole thing with some slogan, which would be noticed by everyone the next day.
Guess this post isn't saying much, but as you can tell if you don't filter the responses to a
--
"What thou shalt not, I shalt did!" -Bart Simpson
"What thou shalt not, I shalt did!" -Bart Simpson
Actually, according to Bartleby, the quote is "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Mark Duell
... and the goatsex guy will have that board covered. After a few days, the people in that town will be so right-wing they'll want to abolish talking in public.
Someone you trust is one of us.
If we don't ALL stnd up for our rights to free expression RIGHT FUCKING NOW this may as well be a monument to something that we have had, and lost...
www.aclu.org -- True defenders of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
If you voted for Nader, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!
This is a FREE SPEECH monument, not an ANONYMOUS SPEECH monument.
If someone wants to spend the day filling this board with 'goatse.cx' grafitti, that's fine. But they gotta show up and spend the time right there in front of onlookers to do it. And the onlookers can smile at them while erasing the junk.
Not to say ANONYMOUS SPEECH has its values, but I like this just the way it is.
[
A few have made strong points on the issue of copyright as it obviously refers to our favourite decryption software. While that's publishing the code of a readily available yet technically illegal product, don't we have more to worry about from legal campaigns? Anyone remember the 'Buried Angel' episode of the Simpsons, where it turned out to be an ad for a mall? And what about SuperGreg?
As clueless as the people who designed the opening credits and the title for Anti Trust were, some advertisers are getting pretty smart.
So is there anything in the wording of those that commissioned this to suggest what they'd do about it being used for commercial gain?
toeslikefingers.com - because
Freedom of speech is like any other freedom. The general population doesn't notice or appreciate it until it's gone. Then there's resistance, violence, a pendulum swinging back and forth. When will this pendulum halt?
(Sorry if this is unintelligent, I'm tired and going off to bed now. I promise.)
- Steeltoe
http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/
rtfa. that issue was raised, considered, and ignored.
Linus has,in fact,grown,and explosively-JonKatz
that they were able to get this past the city government. As the article states, it is a brave move approving this. The mere fact that people are afraid of what will end up on the blackboard makes the monument a living testament to the idea it represents.
BTW, read the article. Well written.
Yeah, I usually vote the LP candidate, although I'm not a card-carrying party member.
Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
www.aclu.org -- True defenders of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
I think you mean "True defenders of part of our Constitution and some of the Bill of Rights."
If I were to join the ACLU, I'd have to join the NRA, too, just to avoid being seen as an anti-Second Amendment advocate. (And I'm not about to do that, because the NRA's leadership is preoccupied with the notion that the industry I work in is devoted to corrupting America's youth.)
Here's some homework for those of you who belong to the ACLU: ask your leaders why they don't have the balls to post a link to http://www.aclu.org/library/aaguns.html on the otherwise-exhaustive "Issues" list on their front page.
Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
The blackboard is being constructed in Charlottesville Virginia. The writer of the article, Ellen Goodman, is a columnist for the Boston Globe.
Too low tech!
Better idea is huge LCD screen with from
somewhere on the net, through which anybody
can post comments.
This is a pretty good idea. Sure, some people will probably write things on the board that others will find offensive, but that's part of free speech. Besides, in my city, people *graffiti* offensive speech all over the place.
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The speech will be there. Might as well let people use chalk and a board, and encourage it!
I found the quote interesting as well. "After all, if the first amendment were up for a vote today, it might not pass". Scary, but true.
------------------------------------------
A simple policy for public surfaces, be they chalkboards or bulletin boards: just clear them on a fixed schedule. Divide them in half. Mark one half with something like "Cleared during the first week of each month". Mark the other half "Cleared during the third week of each month". This is a big win for bulletin boards, especially on college campuses. Removes all controversy about content-based censorship, gives everybody a known minimum amount of visible time, and makes it easy on the maintenance staff.
Now, which true-believer is willing to install / operate a web cam for our edification...?
Seriously, I've been campaigning for a SlashDot clone in a number of areas of political & organisational life...
In this connection, I heard a well-positioned UK unionist (speaking to an Adelaide audience of Adult educators & students at one of its TAFE campuses) say that:
BTW, it's not like union members don't have access to computers and the Internet...
He also told the audience that British Telecom employees get one day off (in 5) for Internet-based training - from memory - in their own homes!
Can someone confirm this "rumor"...?
(Maybe DEC was right -not- to have unions... e.g. in Sweden)
Check it out! You could do it too, and on the cheap!
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Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur
While I admire the idea of this monument, in today's litigious society, it's a lawsuit waiting to happen. What happens when someone writes something that is not protected speech? Who would be responsible for a libelous comment, or say, the posting of the source code for DeCSS?
Actaully instead of a webcam, how about creating vector images from the board? Somewhere out there someone makes a whiteboard that has an attachment that monitors where the pen is located on the board and then creates an image based on it's location that is then sent to a computer. If this was implemented on the chalk board, a live vector image could be streamed to anyone who wants to see it. I suggest this approach due to the fact that unless the webcam is really good quality, it may be difficult to see what is really on the board.
Maybe they even could attach a robotic arm so people on the net could add to the board. Or maybe that's just going too far...
Here is what happens when people decide to get controversial with it.
OK, enough of this. Just do what I did. Use Google.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
I don't see why people would be offended at the sight of Sendmail rewrite rules.
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You nah, me nah. Screw you guys, I'm going home.
I heard the report on this a few weeks back on NPR. At first blush, it sounds like a great idea. But I remember thinking this at the time, and now I see the word "chiseled" in their report.
I worry about NOTHING people write with chalk, or erase, etc.
I worry about what they PAINT, and what they CHISEL.
That makes the statement that we Americans just can't handle free speech anymore, and perhaps we just plain don't deserve it, either. Sad day when the first permanent mark goes up on the monument.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Any bets on how long before the local 2600 group writes a complete DeCSS implementation on it?
Friends don't let friends use multiple inheritance.
I just can't seem to be able thwart amusing images of potential future headlines in reference to the above:
Computer Hacker Hospitalized with Severe RSI After Several Failed Attempts to Scrawl Complete DeCCS Code on Community Blackboard
I mean, it'll just have to happen, right?
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Revolutionaries, schmevolutionaries..what are they going to revolt against when anarchy becomes regime du jour?
go through an anonymous proxy...i.e. a ski mask (I know that wearing a mask in public is probably illegal in the US)
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
See how restrictions in one area can come back around and bite you in the ass sometimes (OK maybe not a great example). Maybe they can have a "mask clause" for the web-cam & chalk-board.
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
Point a webcam at it, and have it take a picture every 5 minutes....then it would be free speech to the entire world...
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
So they can write "FP! BEYOTCH"
I think this will just be the largest toilet stall in North America. Soon the blackboard will just be full of:
@#( &#%& #$(*(& jews! @#(&%@# &%* nigga sh#@( &#*^
And it will gradually fill up with spray paint and permanent marker and pretty soon sane people will just walk by without responding in any way. Eventually, it will be declared an eyesore cesspit of racial slurs and four-letter words and will be torn down.
Let's face it: we all have free speech, but when do Americans ever speak publicly? Usually only when they're upset about something. Moving free speech to the street like this will just give people on the street who aren't in a hurry (i.e. those that basically live there) a place to vent all of their anger at institutional capitalism and perceived systemic wrongs.
Not that I'm against free speech. I just don't think this'll last, because people don't like to help ugly free speech along if they can avoid it.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
So, are we allowed to Transcribe the source code for DeCSS on the chalkboard?
For those who want other places to put DeCSS, check out the popular 42 ways to distribute DeCSS.
--
--Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
Some kids parents say "Little kids will be harmed by this!"
I go with Ben franklyn on this one: "Those that exchange comfort for saftey deserve neither"
The Lottery:
"Not my manner of thinking but the manner of thinking of others has been the source of my unhappiness." - M
Don't get me wrong, I support free speech, but this wall isn't free speech so much as it is a place to leave a temporary message. According to the FAQ:
The whole thing seems more like an art exhibit than a public place for free speech. And frankly, it isn't all that exciting.
I really hate signatures, but go to my website.
Instead of this, we should install kiosks at random places that only let you access slashdot. And make a giant flat screen of some sort that automatically went to the latest Slashdot article and read the comments out loud through a building. I could just hear it now...
"FP FP FP FP FP FP !!!!"
blog & fiction: jd87
When will the Community Chalkboard be built? If the project is approved by City Council, it is estimated that it will take two years to raise the funds for the monument's construction
In the meantime, feel free to draw little penguins on the sidewalk in indelible ink. Barring that, note that large concrete structures passable as a venue for artistic expression is currently available at every office building in the downtown area. Do not think yourself limited to only concrete, metropolitan glass and flora are right at your fingertips.
Dancin Santa
What happens when someone writes something defamatory? Will the 'defamed' sue the community? What would happen if someone decided to scrawl death threats on the thing? It's a great idea, but it's bound to annoy some wank in some way.
Douglas Adams
1952-2001 :(
I couldn't agree more. Call me sappy, but reading a story like this is a really uplifting thing for me. Everyday it seems that I wake up to a new injustice. A CIPA, a UCITA, a CPRM, a new report on money in politics ignored by M$NBC because they helped put the money there, lives ruined in a drug war, lives taken in a legalized cartel. The frustration builds until it seems hopeless -- and then it's all erased by one day in a story like this one.
Anyway, enough with the mushy stuff, I just hope I'll be first in line.
Ahhhhhh, that is an interesting idea, and one I'd be interested to see. BUT, consider this -- will a webcam restrict peoples' freedom just as surveilance cameras on the streets do? Wouldn't someone be afraid to express themselves with a camera watching?
To a certain extent I believe them. On the other hand, maybe it won't be so bad, at least at first. When some kid finds out that he can write "my teacher is a weenie" and nobody will punish him for it, he'll have learned what "free speech" is all about.
And some mornings, there will be 4-letter words written accross the wall in 6 foot tall letters. And maybe somebody will stop by on their way to work and erase them and write a poem up in their place.
All in all, it'll be a fascinating experiment. And even if it "fails", due to vandalism, it still will have encouraged people to think about freedom of speech in everyday terms, which has to be a good thing overall.
Of course. In Europe, where gun control is the usual situation, crime rates are way lower than in the U.S.A.
A student from my school posted a website (the website is up, but the contiversial message board is gone. if you are interested, the site is here) that was in no way sponsered by the school, but created a forum that allowed students to post problems with the school, and discuss them on a message board. For some reason the faculty hated it, and students caught accessing it in class got in more trouble then if they were, say, accessing e-mail. There were, of course, many questions brought up regarding the "freedom of speech" in this page. The message board was not moderated, and there were some things posted about teachers that were not true, and somewhat degrading. However, I was a heavy advocate to keep the page going, because I thought that it was a good way for the students to say (anonymously) what they wanted to about the school. I would like to hear some input on this.
Individuals expressing themselves on the chalkboard are subject to the same legal restrictions that they would be if expressing themselves verbally in a public space.
Damn, guess that means no illegal mp3 trading...
Ways for corporations/big bad government/microsoft to defeat blackboard:
1) hire lackees to scribble all over blackboard, rendering the writings of others unintelligible.
2) hire "janitors" to "clean" the blackboard (from site: "regardless of what is on it, the slate will be cleaned by maintenance staff on a regularly scheduled basis. Thus, everything placed on the monument is temporary.")
3) do nothing. why the hell would i want to walk all the way to a towns square to scribble something in chalk when I can post something on the internet?
the racists find out about it. Then it's all over. We can't afford to give some people too much latitude,
Surely the whole point of free spech, and this project, is that you can afford to give "people too much latitude". In fact you have to do so. If it is a right it can not be taken away.
What we have here is nothing other than a physical usenet alt tree. Think about it: a space where anyone can say anything they want, about anything they want, completely anonymously.
There are a bunch of advantages to the physical version though. First is that net forums can be ignored more easily than 6 foot high letters in the middle of the city. Also, there is no need to worry about a 'digital divide', because it is free, lo-tech, and easy to use.
Perhaps some copycat projects are in order, so let's see how this one turns out. And heck, there are very occasionally intelligent things written in bathroom stalls.
You are standing in front of a house. There is a mailbox here.
rant(){
The real beauty of this blackboard might not be the representation of free speech, but rather what kind of statements can be formulated and agreed upon by an entire town. At first everyone will want to write what they want on the blackboard. However, once the blackboard is filled people will start looking at what they have written, trying to combine similar statements to save space. Erasing words you don't like will actually improve the message of the board, making it more closely match the entire town's opinions. Eventually the board will reach a state of stability, with few people changing it, because everyone will have had their turn at free expression and refined their message.
This board will create a polarization of the town. Maybe the entire town, if the citizens are generally like-minded, will agree on a certain set of statements or philosophy to depict on the board. On the other hand, the writings might divide themselves into distinct groups, each of which will battle for its own voice. However, I don't think these groups will erase their ennemy's writings and replace them with their own. They will find it more effective to write their opposing viewpoints next to their ennemies' writings. Counter-arguments are always most effective when contrasted with their opposing statements. If they stood alone, having erased the opposition, they would be subject to their own criticism.
Anyway, back to free speech. I only partly see how this board encourages free speech. Obviously, everyone can add thier own opinion or attitude to the board--at least, everyone who gets to the board before it fills. However, the ability of other people to erase the work of free speakers does not seem to go with free speech. The right to burn books opposed to your viewpoint is not included in your right to free speech. The erasure of messages on the board, whether to attempt to "wipe out" that argument or simply to free some space, seems to indicate that it is all right to burn your opponents books.
In the end, I think this board will be more of a collaborative tool for the town than a free speech community board. However, the blackboard will still be able to act as a monument to free speech because it does have the basic qualities of an open democracy.
}