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The last thing we need is more laws

Passing more Internet-specific laws is not the answer.

Even assuming worthy motives, legislators as a whole are too ignorant, too arrogant, and too prone to demagoguery to effectively regulate something that they can't even define. I doubt that more than 10 percent of legislators can even explain the difference between the "Internet" and the "World Wide Web," much less enact effective regulations to goven these media.

Take the "Can-Spam" law pushed through Congress by that ignorant gladhand Chuck Schumer, for example. It sounded like a good idea at the time, and I'm sure Chuck managed to squeeze a few votes out of the photo ops surrounding its enactment. But anyone who actually knew anything about how email works knew that it wouldn't work -- and it hasn't. Has anyone's spam decreased as a result of the law?

But at least the Can-Spam law seemed to have a worthy intent. Most of the proprosals for new "regulations" to govern the Internet boil down to plain, old-fashioned fascism. What scares the hell out of government types is the free voice the Internet gives to ideas that threaten the entrenchment of their own power -- not child abuse, fraud, or terrorism. All of those things were with us long before the Internet.

If someone uses the Internet to commit a crime, then prosecute them for the crime that they committed. "Regulating" the Internet to prevent fraud, for example, is no more necessary (nor effective) than "regulating" the sale of pencils to prevent tax evasion. Government would do well to prosecute actual crimes, regardless of the means and media used to commit them.

Posted by: RichardM_z   Posted on: 03/31/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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