Law in the Internet Society

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BahradSokhansanjSecondPaper 5 - 15 Jan 2012 - Main.BahradSokhansanj
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We Are All Prometheus

Ready for review. The ideas in this essay crystallized after watching Cory Doctorow’s recent lecture, The Coming War on the General Purpose Computer. It’s a really great talk that expresses much more clearly the ideas that have been bouncing around my own head for a long time now. I strongly recommend watching it -- certainly over actually reading what I wrote here!

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<		In a free society, government enforces laws restrict actions. They do not restrict thoughts. You can’t build or buy a certain kind of gun, or a certain kind of sex toy. You can’t copy and reprint a book. The freedom to do can be curtailed, but the freedom to think, to read, to listen -- this personal human right is inviolate. Certainly, government can’t punish thought.
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>		In a free society, government enforces laws that may restrict actions. You can’t build or buy a certain kind of gun, or a certain kind of sex toy. You can’t copy and reprint a book. There may even be limited prohibitions on reading and listening. In general, the freedom to do can be curtailed, but governments in free states ought not punish thought itself.
 But, computers challenge our ability to differentiate between a law that infringes the freedom to do something with the freedom to think about it. Computers are now the way we acquire and transmit knowledge. Computers can be combined with 3-D printers to manufacture physical objects and devices. Computers can run DNA synthesis machines and engineer microorganisms. Laws can be enforced to prevent the use of computers to copy movies, build counterfeit or dangerous goods, or produce patented or dangerous microorganisms. But, these laws will necessarily punish thought.

Revision 5r5 - 15 Jan 2012 - 01:45:47 - BahradSokhansanj
Revision 4r4 - 14 Jan 2012 - 14:41:50 - BahradSokhansanj
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