Technische Universität München, Fakultät für Informatik
Lehrstuhl Informatik IV, Research Group Automated Reasoning

Stephan Schulz


Blue Ribbon

Some Words of Wisdom.

...and my geek code:

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GCS$ d--@ s:+ a>? C++ U+++ P--- L++ E++ W+ N+++>+ K+++ !w----
!O !M V-- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP>+++ t+ 5+ X- R(+++) tv b++++ 
DI+ D+>+++ G e+++>++++ h r y+
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
I now have a CV online. You can download either the PostScript version or the PDF version. Please note that I am not currently looking for a new job. If you want to lure me, please keep the following in mind: Please note that I will consider unsolicited offers as spam unless they are obviously not part of a mass mailing or a form letter.

About my Work


The idea that an arbitrary naive human should be able to properly use a given tool without training or understanding is even more wrong for computing than it is for other tools (eg automobiles, airplanes, guns or power saws).

-Found in a .sig


My Hobbies (and links related to them)


"If Windows-95 is the answer, how bloody stupid was the question?"

"Windows-95 is not the answer, it is the question. The answer is NO!"

Freedom of Information on the Net

The internet is one of the biggest experiments in the history of mankind. It allows people from all over the world to associate and communicate freely and without any central control. As a result, the people on the net now form a unique and distinct culture, full of diversity, but based on a common set of values. Prime among this is a strong belief in the freedom of information: Everybody should be able to communicate his thoughts and ideas to the world, freely and without fear of repression.

Recently, this freedom of information on the net has come under attack from a variety of sources. It is telling that the attacks primarily originate from people and organizations that depend on a strong hierarchy and aim at controlling people, often via restriction or manipulation of information: Governments, politicians, religous groups.

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

You may consider to display the blue ribbon as a symbol for freedom of expression on the internet as well as everywhere in the world.

Blue Ribbon
Join the Blue Ribbon Anti-Censorship Campaign!

Russ Alberry has written an excellent statement on the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and on freedom of information on the net, titled Defiantly Free. While not quite current, it sums up the feeling of much of the Net back in 1996. Another important text is John Perry Barlow's Cyberspace Independence Declaration (here is my German Translation as a DVI file). Ask Google, Altavista or Lycos for 'Cyberspace Independence Declaration' to estimate the impact of and the support for this document (in fact, Lycos nearly breaks down while transmitting the results).

Why was this page black?

On February 8th, 1996, the American President Clinton signed the so-called "telecommunications decency act" as part of the Telecomunications Reform Bill. This act includes a provision which severly limits freedom of expression on the Internet. The internet is an entirely new medium on which a unique, world wide culture develops. Freedom of expression is one of the major values in this culture, and attempts to curb this freedom are a major attack on this culture and the possibilities the new medium may offer to all of us. Please check this site for more information on the act and the protests against it.

A coalition of different people and organizations (including the ACLU and the EFF) on the net have challenged the constitutionallity of the bill. On June 26th, 1997, the US supreme court found the bill unconstitutional.

"As a matter of constitutional tradition, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we presume that governmental regulation of the content of speech is more likely to interfere with the free exchange of ideas than to encourage it. The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship."
This decision has eliminated one of the major threats to freedom of information on the net. However, other governments are still working on legislation to restrict the use of the internet for the free exchange of ideas.

"Zen is for opening your eyes. Most other religions and occult movements are for putting on cool-looking blindfolds."


Scientology - Another attack against the freedom of the net

The Church of $cientology (offering this link should not be taken as an endorsement of the Church) has been waging a war angainst the freedom of information on Usenet and the internet since 1994. See Ron Newman's page titled The Church of Scientology vs. the Net for more details. A more up to date account can be found on the Operation Clambake page. I offer these links just to spite the Co$.

Valid HTML 3.2!

I try to write standard-conforming web pages. This page (and all of my pages that I checked) pass the W3 validator.
Stephan Schulz,schulz@informatik.tu-muenchen.de, 5.7.2000