[Foundation-l] and what if...

[Lars Aronsson]

geni wrote:

> They are not entirely comfortable with it. That is rather the 
> problem. The IWF exists because in 1996 Chief inspector Stephen 
> French made it clear that if ISPs didn't do something about 
> certain usenet groups he would do something about those ISPs.
> 
> What we saw in action appears to be a derivative of the 
> cleanfeed system developed by BT a couple of years back at least 
> partly because the government was making noises about getting 
> involved.
> 
> The government would probably go for a rather stricter filtering 
> system but is prepared to accept the IWF because it saves money 
> and means that negative PR is not directly pointed at the 
> government.

We actually don't know what governments would go for, and whether 
it would be better or worse for us citizens. Some believe that 
such decisions are exactly what governments are for, 
democratically elected governments that can be elected away by the 
people, instead of being left to private corporations or 
foundations that cannot be voted away.  It's a choice between rule 
of law and so-called self-regulation.  Self-regulation is much 
hailed in post WWII western European (and U.S.?) politics, but 
when we observe it happening in post-Soviet Russia it is called 
corruption and oligarchy.

Large corporations (including telcos and large ISPs) tend to 
prefer self-regulation, so it's probably good for them. Again, so 
can corruption be.

The controversial 1976 album cover is an interesting example 
because it also touches on "fair use" of copyrighted covers, an 
area where Wikimedia Commons and many languages of Wikipedia 
already self-regulate to comply with copyright law, despite the 
fact that many of us think these laws are overly strict and in 
conflict with free speech.  The copyright system is a mix of 
copyright law and private self-regulation through collecting 
societies and large publishing companies.

Political powers in a country form a pyramid in three levels: one 
monarch or government at the top, a middle section of a few large 
corporations, noble families, political parties, trade unions, or 
oligarchs, and a large number of individuals ("the people") and 
small businesses at the bottom.  Often enough, the government and 
the people have a common interest in suppressing the middle 
section.  Self-regulation is good for the middle section.


-- 
  Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
  Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se