[Wikipedia-l] ...Dream a lot

[Rob Seaman]

Ray Saintonge wonders:

> To what extent do international standards have the force of law?

I can't even pretend to understand the legal ramifications, but the  
participation of the U.S. State Department in the UTC discussions  
suggests that this particular standard is being treated as some sort  
of treaty obligation.  One suspects that the "force of law" question  
varies from standard to standard.  For instance, standards tied into  
interstate commerce such as labeling requirements on food packaging  
are likely very closely aligned with federal codes.

On the other hand, issues of timekeeping can vary from state to  
state, i.e., Arizona does not observe daylight saving time.  Or even  
vary within a state or province, since the Navajo nation NE of  
Phoenix does observe DST, while the Hopi nation (completely embedded  
within the Navajo boundaries) does not.  Many countries don't even  
reference such standards directly, but only rely on indirect  
effects.  In this case, a number of countries legally recognize the  
older Greenwich Mean Time standard.  Opening up the standards  
documents - if not the standards process - would benefit the powerful  
as much as the powerless.

The question is:  What does $100M buy you?  This vanishes next to an  
international media market of many billions of dollars.  That's  
gigabucks per year, of course.  Even such a generous offering isn't  
going to carry the open source revolution into the streets.

The proper model must surely be similar to the Nature Conservancy,  
accomplished by:  aiming to free the most strategic of information  
assets first, directly purchasing only what you must, protecting  
other at-risk data via information easements, spending smarter not  
outspending, building local cyber-coalitions, connecting open content  
green-way corridors, cooperating with unlikely allies such as  
"information ranchers", and ultimately funding it all with creative  
methods such as tax-friendly knowledge-capitalist estate planning or  
boutique info-tourist destinations.

Rob Seaman
National Optical Astronomy Observatory