The Internet's public enema No. 1
Free Speech
3/5/2001; 10:47:57 PM

'Rotten.com's sole purpose is to "present the viewer with a truly unpleasant experience," and its proprietor is doing a dandy job of that.... It's horrible. And yet, the Net is fascinated. About 200,000 visitors come to Rotten.com every day. We are voyeurs at heart, drawn to the macabre and horrific like rubberneckers at a car crash, and even though we can't bear to look we are compelled to click on that headline: "A gallery of severed hands and whatnot." Yuck.

'Rotten dot-com serves as a beacon to demonstrate that censorship of the Internet is impractical, unethical and wrong," Soylent writes in his manifesto, adding that nothing he posts there can't be found elsewhere. "To censor this site, it is necessary to censor medical texts, history texts, evidence rooms, courtrooms, art museums, libraries, and other sources of information vital to functioning of free society."'

The article brings up the touchy question of international speech laws, amoung others. Note: I haven't visited this site, nor do I intend to. The link in the news item title is to an article in Salon, it's safe to click.