May 11 1995 -- Last December, eyeNET presented readers that most
irreplaceable of Internet resources, the "How To Kill Yourself" file.
It gives detailed instructions on creative ways to end one's life. It
has circulated the net for years, uploaded to newsgroups and found
languishing in FTP sites such as Canadian universities, where it is
particularly useful come exam time.
Of it, I wrote: "Some of the ways are serious, drawn from references
like Derek Humphry, publisher of Hemlock -- and some aren't.
It's not hard to guess which is which ... One wonders how long before
the Hard Copy-esque legions who staff mainstream media news outlets
discover it: 'Suicide Tips On The Information Superhighway! Film at
11!'"
Let's fast-forward: Sunday, March 12. Out at Bathurst and College St,
enjoying the spring-like day, I spied a somewhat startling Toronto
Sun front page headline -- startling not only because it was
actually more than one word, but because it read: SUICIDE GURU USING
INTERNET TO TELL TEENS HOW TO DIE.
Looking around and not seeing eye staff snickering and
spluttering in doorways, I deduced it was not one of those phony
mock-up papers and dug out some coin to read it. (The article now
proudly adorns wall space in eyeNET's luxurious HQ.)
This Toronto Sun "exclusive" was bylined Steve Chase of the
Calgary Sun. It opens: "An American suicide advocate has teamed
up with his Canadian counterpart to flog a how-to manual across the
Internet, the Sunday Sun has learned."
Personally, I'm of the opinion that the Toronto Sun might better
serve readers if, in its next net story, the phrase "the Sunday Sun has
learned" is immediately followed by the phrase "how to login."
I realized they were writing not about the How To Kill Yourself Guide
but DeathNET. DeathNET is one of the many informational/research tools
on the World Wide Web. It deals with the controversial "right to die"
issue.
One might have just chalked this up to another sensationalistic
pro-censorship Sun story, except this one would eventually be
picked up around the world. Millions of people were told DeathNET is
helping teens use the Internet to learn how to kill themselves.
DeathNET --