DaveNet: Monday, September 1, 1997; by Dave Winer.

Philippe Kahn on Princess Di

From Philippe Kahn, philippe@starfish.com:

It is very sad to see someone so young and so popular as Princess Diana die. Our heart goes to her family.

However, the usual suspects are trying to take this opportunity to limit freedom of speech in a very subversive way.

This is a sad story, but in the case of this particular accident, the facts are starting to come out:

1. The car was traveling at three times the speed limit.

2. The driver had three times the legal French alcohol limit (worse by US standards).

3. The photographers behind the car were too far away to have any direct part of the crash and were legitimate photographers -- the same guys who cover any important event in the world. Not ruthless paparazzi.

4. The same people complaining are the ones who followed Di's exploits in People Magazine.

5. The only survivor in the car crash was the body guard, who was the only person wearing a seat-belt. Not wearing a seat-belt is against the law in France.

The news is very sad, but let us not let anyone use this tragedy as an excuse to attack our basic freedom of speech.