FC: Turkey bans typewriters, claiming useful for sedition, in 1901

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

********

From: "Herb Lin" <HLin () nas edu>
To: declan () well com
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 00:37:59 -0400
Subject: for politech

You might be amused about this one

>From the July 2001 Scientific American

in July 1901, Scientific American said this:

    State Security vs. Technology

    "The inexplicable conservatism and arrogance of the Turkish customs
    authorities was recently shown by the prohibition of the importation
    of typewriters into the country.  The reason advanced by the
    authorities was that in the event of seditious writing executed by
    the typewriter being circulated, it would be impossible to obtain
    any clew by which the operator of the machine could be traced.  A
    large consignment of 200 typewriters was lying in the custom house
    at the time the above law was passed, and will have to be
    returned."

Many things are not new...

herb




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