'Net Case Raises Free-Speech Debate

"Torture is foreplay, rape is romance, snuff is climax," reads the preface of a sexual fantasy posted on the newsgroup `alt.sex.stories' by Jake Baker, a sophomore at the University of Michigan.

The 20-year-old Iinguistics major, currently in jail facing charges of interstate transmission of a threat to kidnap or injure, has singlehandedly ignited a new round of questions on the applicability of federal laws to the realm of cyberspace.

Baker's real name is Abraham Jacob Alkhabaz. In December and early January, he posted several pornographic stories he had written on the newsgroup `alt.sex.stories.' This newsgroup is available all over the world through the Internet--a global data communications network.

The newsgroup is known on the Internet for its explicit and graphic descriptions of sex acts, such as incest, rape and torture. But Baker's stories were extreme even for the newsgroup, according to readers who discussed the case in about 300 posts on that newsgroup alone.

Baker posted a number of stories, including "A Day at Work," "Gone Fishing" and "Pamela's Ordeal." These stories are fantasies of abduction, torture, sodomy, rape and murder of young women.

The story "Pamela's Ordeal" involved two men who broke into the apartment of a young woman, whom they tied, gagged, mutilated and sodomized, before burning her alive.

As awful as the story was, Baker was well within his rights to publish it on the newsgroup, according to legal experts such as Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz.

"My own view is that pornography should never be censored, but that certain kinds of explicit threats should be," he said Thursday. "This, however, was not explicit enough. It seemed more like fantasy."

According to United States Attorney Saul A.Green, Baker is being prosecuted solely becausethe name he used for his fictional victim was thatof a fellow Michigan classmate, and the districtattorney's office asserts that by posting thestory Baker threatened his classmate.

A federal statute prohibits the interstatetransmission of a threat to injure.

Baker said he had not spoken to the girl,according to an article in this week's Timemagazine, but that she had been in his Japaneseclass during the fall semester.

According to reports in the Michigan Daily, thestudent newspaper of the University of Michigan, a16-year-old girl in Moscow read the story and toldher father, who told a friend of his, a Michiganalumnus working as a lawyer.

On January 19, the alumnus called schoolofficials, who proceeded to give Baker apsychological evaluation and had him escorted offcampus. Administrators feared that he posed adanger to the girl, identified in court papersonly as "Jane Doe," according to the MichiganDaily.

The University of Michigan Department of PublicSafety contacted Baker the next day regarding hispostings. Baker waived his Miranda rights andadmitted that he had posted the stories to thenewsgroup, according to FBI Agent Greg Stejskal inan affidavit.

Baker gave officials permission to read hise-mail messages. The officials found numerousmessages between Baker and Arthur Gronda, aresident of Ontario, Canada, in which theydiscussed collaborating to commit the acts Bakerhad described.

One of Baker's messages to Gronda read: "Justthinking about it anymore doesn't do the trick. Ineed to Do it," according to U.S. Attorney KenChadwell in court papers.

University officials also found an unfinishedstory in his room in which Baker again mentionedthe same female classmate, the Michigan Dailyreported.

"The story involves Mr. Baker abducting thefemale student at gunpoint and taking her to asecluded place off Route 23 in Ann Arbor,"Stejskal said in the affidavit. "He tells her todisrobe, to take a toolbox from his car and thenuses the tools to torture her."

On Thursday, February 9, Baker, who had beensuspended a week earlier, was arrested by the FBIon the basis of his stories and e-mail messages.

The suspension was issued primarily out ofconcern for the girl's safety, according toUniversity officials.

"We do not view this as a freedom of speechissue. What is at issue is invasion of privacy andthreats to safety," Lisa Baker, associatevice-president for university relations, saidyesterday.

"I can't comment directly on the suspension,"Baker said, "but I can say that the president ofthe university has only had to take this kind ofaction twice before and that was when there wasreasonable cause to believe that there was athreat to safety of a student or other students."

Bail Hearings

Federal Magistrate Thomas A. Carlson deniedbail to Baker, calling him "a ticking bomb readyto go off." After a detention hearing the nextday, another judge, Bernard A. Friedman, againdenied bail to Baker, saying that he was "toodangerous for society."

Baker's attorneys filed an appeal on the bailhearing two days ago, but Baker remains in jail,pending a decision by the 6th Circuit Court ofAppeals in Cincinnati, according to one of Baker'slawyers. The student is expected to be freed onbond in the appeal.

"They should decide in a week or two whether ornot he can be released on bond or will have tostay in jail until the trial," David Cahill, oneof Baker's attorneys, told The Crimson yesterday.

Baker was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday withthreatening to injure another person on theInternet. If convicted, he will face a maximumsentence of five years in prison and a $250,000fine. He was arraigned yesterday, in what Cahillcalled a "useless proceeding."

"The next hearing date has not been set,"Cahill said, adding that he expects the trial tobegin within a month or two.

"The woman mentioned in the story has not yetfiled any civil charges," Cahill said. He wasuncertain if she would take any action againstBaker.

In an ironic twist, a woman on the Internetthis week posted a story on `alt.sex.stories' inwhich Baker is himself raped, tortured and killed.

Baker's attorneys will not take any action,Cahill said, "because we think her story wasprotected free speech."

"However," he emphasized, "the U.S. Governmentis going to have to explain if they don't chargeher, why not."

Harvard

University officials said this week they wereuncertain what action Harvard would take if such asituation were to happen here.

"It's a very difficult question and I justdon't know what action Harvard would take," saidUniversity Attorney Allan A. Ryan, Jr. "There isno rule that regulates the content of whatstudents write--whether they pass it out inHarvard Square or put it on the Internet--but thatdoes not mean that their actions have noconsequences."

"If a student makes a threat against anotherstudent, he must deal with the consequences ofthat, but it's very hard to announce specificrules in advance," Ryan said.

"In some circumstances making threats can bepunished under the criminal laws inMassachusetts," he added. "The AdministrativeBoard could certainly take action where thethreats constituted a disciplinary problem."

"All of this would need to be discussed withthe Dean of Students and the Ad Board," saidFranklin M. Steen, director of the Harvard Artsand Sciences Computer Services.

"We only provide the wire," Steen said. "Theactions that students take are dealt with by theusual authorities whether they are on the network,on the phone, on paper or other. If a complaintcame in, we would take it to the Dean of Studentswho would decide if the Ad Board should becalled."

Steen emphasized that "the same standards applyto electronic communication as they do totelephones, written and oral communication."

Virginia Mackay-Smith, secretary to theAdministrative Board, did not return repeatedphone calls this week.

"It's very hard to say what the Ad Board woulddo because the Ad Board traditionally decidescases one at a time based on all the facts andcircumstances of that case," Ryan said.

"I don't think the Ad Board would take actionsimply because a student writes pornography, butthe variables are so great that it is difficult tomake predictions with any specificity."

But one lawyer argued that the Ad Board shouldnot punish any student who took similar action tothat in the Baker case.

"I don't think [Harvard should punish thestudent if the situation happened here], and Icertainly hope not," Dershowitz said. "We practicefree speech in this university, unlike in someother universities.

According to United States Attorney Saul A.Green, Baker is being prosecuted solely becausethe name he used for his fictional victim was thatof a fellow Michigan classmate, and the districtattorney's office asserts that by posting thestory Baker threatened his classmate.

A federal statute prohibits the interstatetransmission of a threat to injure.

Baker said he had not spoken to the girl,according to an article in this week's Timemagazine, but that she had been in his Japaneseclass during the fall semester.

According to reports in the Michigan Daily, thestudent newspaper of the University of Michigan, a16-year-old girl in Moscow read the story and toldher father, who told a friend of his, a Michiganalumnus working as a lawyer.

On January 19, the alumnus called schoolofficials, who proceeded to give Baker apsychological evaluation and had him escorted offcampus. Administrators feared that he posed adanger to the girl, identified in court papersonly as "Jane Doe," according to the MichiganDaily.

The University of Michigan Department of PublicSafety contacted Baker the next day regarding hispostings. Baker waived his Miranda rights andadmitted that he had posted the stories to thenewsgroup, according to FBI Agent Greg Stejskal inan affidavit.

Baker gave officials permission to read hise-mail messages. The officials found numerousmessages between Baker and Arthur Gronda, aresident of Ontario, Canada, in which theydiscussed collaborating to commit the acts Bakerhad described.

One of Baker's messages to Gronda read: "Justthinking about it anymore doesn't do the trick. Ineed to Do it," according to U.S. Attorney KenChadwell in court papers.

University officials also found an unfinishedstory in his room in which Baker again mentionedthe same female classmate, the Michigan Dailyreported.

"The story involves Mr. Baker abducting thefemale student at gunpoint and taking her to asecluded place off Route 23 in Ann Arbor,"Stejskal said in the affidavit. "He tells her todisrobe, to take a toolbox from his car and thenuses the tools to torture her."

On Thursday, February 9, Baker, who had beensuspended a week earlier, was arrested by the FBIon the basis of his stories and e-mail messages.

The suspension was issued primarily out ofconcern for the girl's safety, according toUniversity officials.

"We do not view this as a freedom of speechissue. What is at issue is invasion of privacy andthreats to safety," Lisa Baker, associatevice-president for university relations, saidyesterday.

"I can't comment directly on the suspension,"Baker said, "but I can say that the president ofthe university has only had to take this kind ofaction twice before and that was when there wasreasonable cause to believe that there was athreat to safety of a student or other students."

Bail Hearings

Federal Magistrate Thomas A. Carlson deniedbail to Baker, calling him "a ticking bomb readyto go off." After a detention hearing the nextday, another judge, Bernard A. Friedman, againdenied bail to Baker, saying that he was "toodangerous for society."

Baker's attorneys filed an appeal on the bailhearing two days ago, but Baker remains in jail,pending a decision by the 6th Circuit Court ofAppeals in Cincinnati, according to one of Baker'slawyers. The student is expected to be freed onbond in the appeal.

"They should decide in a week or two whether ornot he can be released on bond or will have tostay in jail until the trial," David Cahill, oneof Baker's attorneys, told The Crimson yesterday.

Baker was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday withthreatening to injure another person on theInternet. If convicted, he will face a maximumsentence of five years in prison and a $250,000fine. He was arraigned yesterday, in what Cahillcalled a "useless proceeding."

"The next hearing date has not been set,"Cahill said, adding that he expects the trial tobegin within a month or two.

"The woman mentioned in the story has not yetfiled any civil charges," Cahill said. He wasuncertain if she would take any action againstBaker.

In an ironic twist, a woman on the Internetthis week posted a story on `alt.sex.stories' inwhich Baker is himself raped, tortured and killed.

Baker's attorneys will not take any action,Cahill said, "because we think her story wasprotected free speech."

"However," he emphasized, "the U.S. Governmentis going to have to explain if they don't chargeher, why not."

Harvard

University officials said this week they wereuncertain what action Harvard would take if such asituation were to happen here.

"It's a very difficult question and I justdon't know what action Harvard would take," saidUniversity Attorney Allan A. Ryan, Jr. "There isno rule that regulates the content of whatstudents write--whether they pass it out inHarvard Square or put it on the Internet--but thatdoes not mean that their actions have noconsequences."

"If a student makes a threat against anotherstudent, he must deal with the consequences ofthat, but it's very hard to announce specificrules in advance," Ryan said.

"In some circumstances making threats can bepunished under the criminal laws inMassachusetts," he added. "The AdministrativeBoard could certainly take action where thethreats constituted a disciplinary problem."

"All of this would need to be discussed withthe Dean of Students and the Ad Board," saidFranklin M. Steen, director of the Harvard Artsand Sciences Computer Services.

"We only provide the wire," Steen said. "Theactions that students take are dealt with by theusual authorities whether they are on the network,on the phone, on paper or other. If a complaintcame in, we would take it to the Dean of Studentswho would decide if the Ad Board should becalled."

Steen emphasized that "the same standards applyto electronic communication as they do totelephones, written and oral communication."

Virginia Mackay-Smith, secretary to theAdministrative Board, did not return repeatedphone calls this week.

"It's very hard to say what the Ad Board woulddo because the Ad Board traditionally decidescases one at a time based on all the facts andcircumstances of that case," Ryan said.

"I don't think the Ad Board would take actionsimply because a student writes pornography, butthe variables are so great that it is difficult tomake predictions with any specificity."

But one lawyer argued that the Ad Board shouldnot punish any student who took similar action tothat in the Baker case.

"I don't think [Harvard should punish thestudent if the situation happened here], and Icertainly hope not," Dershowitz said. "We practicefree speech in this university, unlike in someother universities.