Susan Crawford reckons Ben Franklin would have been a blogger and that he would have taken a decentralised networking and community building approach to Internet regulation.
My systems thinking colleagues at the Open University would be pleased to hear it. Prof. Crawford's "Shortness of Vision: Regulatory Ambition in the Digital Age" [word doc] does a nice job of applying some systems concepts to the notion of information regulation, whilst also pointing out that the broadcast flag is as important as the Grokster case. From her blog on same:
"The broadcast flag argument is coming up on February 22." [That's today folks!] "It's a crucial case. Did the FCC have jurisdiction to enter the broadcast flag order in November 2003? If it didn't, we'll need to go to Congress to discuss all this.
Like the Grokster case, the flag situation raises this question: can one industry force another to constrain new general purpose technologies in the name of copyright protection? Like the CALEA dispute (prompted by the demands of another great industry -- law enforcement), the flag represents an attempt to have high-tech innovators ask permission before innovating.
The broadcast flag isn't really about broadcast or the waving of a patriotic flag. It's about money and fear. I have high hopes that the DC Circuit will see through the FCC's incredibly broad assertions about its jurisdiction."
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