On Fri, 31 Oct 2003 10:57:04 -0500 Bryan Phinney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> uttered:
> The fact is that tortured readings of laws and paranoid ravings about > the possible clueless applications of laws does not do the tech > community any service. It makes us all appear to be unreasonable and > unwilling to work with others to create laws that can actually be of > service to us. This is more likely to make politicians and lawyers > less likely to seek the tech community out for comment about proposals > and will result in more clueless laws rather than less of them. I > think that we need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. > > The reality is that there are just as many clueless tech organizations > as their are lawyers. For instance, the EFF came out against > anti-spam laws arguing that spam is free speech and that people have a > right to contact others about whatever they want to, I suppose as > frequently as they want to. Well, IMO, you have the right to say > anything you want but you do NOT have the right to force me to listen. > There have to be practical limitations to > rights or else we live under a tyranny of the individual. We also > have freedom of movement in the US, at least, and if you are following > someone with the intent to harass or intimidate them, there are laws > that can be used to force you to stop. There need to be similar > limitations to the free speech rights of email. The problem is, when you get Government involved with legislating things like e-mail, the internet, IP, or whatever, there are inevitably special interests involved who have money to stuff into the pockets of those writing the legislation, and we all know who those interests are. While I find the EFF's stance on the spam law superficially baffling, on deeper reflection, I can see their point. Spam should be dealt with at a technical, community level, not a legislative one. No anti-spam law is going to stop spammers any more than laws against kiddie-porn stop pedophiles from disseminating *their* muck. What has been much more effective in *that* particular fight is the internet community getting involved at a technical level and shutting down sites and servers that offer this garbage. The last thing we want is for the internet to end up like radio and TV did, where some government bureaucracy like the FCC or CRTC decides who gets to go online and who gets to "broadcast". More censorship is not the answer, more community involvement is. This is the crux of the philosophy of the OSS movement, the EFF, and all the RIchard Stallman's out there, as far as I see it anyway, and it's the one I'm more willing to side with. Relying on politicians and lawyers to protect us has never served us well in the past, I see no reason to expect anything different for the future. -- HaywireMac ++ ICQ # 279518458 Registered Linux user #282046 Homepage: www.orderinchaos.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mandrake HowTo's & More: http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The savior becomes the victim.
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