The Center for Media Education is a "watchdog" group which is trying to "make the Net safe for children". They are currently trying to make cyberspace a "smoke-free zone". While this call focuses on keeping tobacco companies from entering cyberspace down the road, this, taken with the other articles on CME's site, suggests that they aren't willing to stop at merely banning official tobacco company sites, but want anything that doesn't agree with their views on tobacco strictly regulated -- or even removed from the Internet.
Smoker's Home Page has drafted a rebuttal letter to CME regarding the misinformation presented about our site, which is posted below. We strongly urge you to take a look at the CME report (URLs listed below), as we seem to be running into a freedom of speech issue which affects us all -- and which is the main focus of the Entertainment Weekly piece.
We need to present a united front and not allow CME, or anyone else, to take away our rights.
May 26, 1997
Center for Media Education
1511 K Street, NW Suite 518
Washington, DC 20005
Dear Sirs:
The following is in response to your report entitled "Alcohol and Tobacco onthe Web: New Threats to Youth".
As one of the creators of Smoker's Home Page, and the person responsible formaintenance of the site on a daily basis, I wish to clarify a few issues.
1. "Web sites promoting alcohol and tobacco employ a number of techniques.Some are an extension of the marketing and promotion efforts utilizedelsewhere; others are designed to take advantage of the unique properties ofthe interactive online media. Many of these techniques are particularlyappealing to children and youth."
"This commercial page has a staff of seven and offers almost everything asmoker might be looking for on the Web"
In no way does Smoker's Home Page serve as a commercial site. We sell noproduct, charge no one for links, and make no money whatsoever. There also isno "staff". Smoker's Home Page is supported entirely by the Chicago internetprovider tezcat.com, which is owned and operated by fellow smoker andsupporter of free-speech, Jen Kraljevitz. My partner and I maintain the siteon a daily basis and receive nothing but the satisfaction of knowing smokershave a place where they can kick back and relax without having to worry aboutor deal with all the anti-smoking propaganda.
2. "Use of chat rooms in the form of clubs, graffiti walls, and virtual bars,such as Smokey's Cafe, on the Smoker's Home Page, where against a backdrop ofglamorous photos of famous celebrities smoking, smokers (and would-besmokers) can chat with other smokers; read pro-smoking articles [e.g."Persecution of Smokers" and "Secondhand Smoke: The Big Lie"]; and consultlists of cigarette and cigar vendors. The messages and quality of theconversations in many of these chat rooms strongly suggest that underageconsumers are among the eager participants."
Smoker's Home Page cannot, should not and will not be held responsible forwho decides to visit our site. We very clearly state at the top of Smokey'sCafe, however, that posts pertaining to underage smoking or getting childrenstarted smoking will be deleted immediately and without notice. As the personwho administers Smokey's Cafe on a daily basis, I can personally assure youthat any posts dealing with underage smoking or written by underage smokersare indeed deleted immediately. Underage smoking and the use of our site byunderage smokers is not encouraged in the least.
3. "The page also offers links to sexually explicit sites with pictures ofnude women smoking, and you can chat live and online about the pleasures ofit all."
As of the last update to our page, there were no links offered to sexuallyexplicit sites or sites that contained nudity, as far as we are aware. Infact, we refuse to link to any site that contains sexually explicit materialor nudity. If we find a page we have linked to which includes these things,we remove the link as soon as possible. There is also nowhere to "chat liveand online about the pleasures of it all" as neither Smokey's Cafe, nor anypage on Smoker's Home Page, is capable of providing live chat.
4. "One of the more popular features is reprints from alt.smokers, anotherpro-smoking Web site, but in filtered form: all the negative comments aredeleted, so pro-smokers can browse without guilt."
Alt.smokers is not a web site, but a discussion newsgroup. Several posts havebeen reposted, however, this feature is called "The Best of alt.smokers" --and it features some of the better posts to the newsgroup. This is *not* areposting of the newsgroup sans the "negative comments", as your reportimplies.
6. "It provides articles about smoking-related issues and runs a chat room,Smokeys Cafe, where smoking isnt only permitted, its required!"
Smokey's Cafe is *not* a chat room. Smokey's Cafe is a message board.
7. "Despite this adult content, the Smokers Home Page does not carry any ageor health warning about smoking. The first screen instead cautions readersagainst other hazards: Warning! This page may be hazardous to anti-smokersblood pressure. Quitting now may greatly reduce your chances of moraloutrage."
The front page of Smoker's Home Page very clearly states that the site isdedicated to smokers. The top of Smokey's Cafe very clearly indicates thatposts regarding underage smoking or getting children to start smoking will bedeleted without notice. It is not our responsibility to indicate any "age orhealth warnings" on our site -- we are not a pack of cigarettes or a paidadvertisement. The title of our page very clearly indicates the purpose ofthe site and users have the option of visiting or not visiting. And parentshave the options of allowing or not allowing their children to visit, as wellas the opportunity to teach them responsibility for their actions. Besides,age warnings are a good way to attract underage visitors on the web.
I deeply resent the implications of your report, and I further resent themisinformation and the way it is communicated to the public. This I will nottolerate. I will be contacting the media, as well as the Federal TradeCommission, in order to demonstrate the misinformation and obvious lack ofintegrity on which this report was based.