95 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
95 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
Joining the EFF
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by Esther Dyson
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Publisher of Release 1.0
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation is probably best--but incorrectly--
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known as "Mitch Kapor's organization to defend computer hackers." In
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fact, the basic message of the Foundation, "There's a new world coming.
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Let's make sure it has rules we can live with." These rules will
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establish the rights and also the responsibilities of the users of the
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electronic infrastructure- which means, eventually, all of us.
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The Foundation's most visible efforts, yes, involve the defense of
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people charged with various forms of electronic trespass and damage.
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This is not to say that there's no such thing as illegal hacking, but
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that not all hacking is illegal. Many hackers' rights are abridged when
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they are arrested by government agents who don't understand how a
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computer works. There's a certain fear of the unknown that makes people
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suspect the worst of a supposed "computer criminal." Searches have been
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overly broad, and charges ridiculously overstated. Moreover, innocent
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bystanders are hurt too, when bulletin boards are closed down and their
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means of communication with each other is disrupted.
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Sentences are also unduly harsh: Consider the proposed prohibition on
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Robert Riggs' use of a computer after his release from prison. The
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computer is not a magic, deadly instrument but rather something closer
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to a telephone. Many criminals plan their crimes by telephone or even
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commit telephone farud, but they don't get barred from telephone usage
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thereafter. Says EFF: "Such restrictions tend to promote the notion that
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computers are inherently dangerous...[and that] access [to them falls
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properly within the scope of government action."
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The EFF also advocates government funding for the National Research and
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Education Network, and passage of bills to do 80 currently in the Senate
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and House. That doesn't mean that NREN would be the only thing going,
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but it would be a spur to and resource for private efforts. Certainly
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such a network should exist, but what's the best way to get it done?
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Should access be subsidized for the poor or distant, as it was for
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telephone service and still is for postal service? Should the subsidies
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be direct, or should they go to users, or should they be achieved
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through regulation?
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Perhaps these questions don't have absolute answers, just as the
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telephone business has evolved through variety of forms (not always
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gracefully, to be sure). Perhaps we should start with a subsidized
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network that ultimately will pay its way! Although the EFF has
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positions on these issues, its major concern is that the public take
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part in addressing them, rather than leaving decisions up to a handful
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of bureaucrats and interested parties.
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Beyond that, there are important issues to consider and resolve, such as
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the definition and protection of Constitutional rights including
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privacy, free speech and assembly. In some cases, its more important to
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have laws that are clear than precisely what those laws are. The world
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can adjust to most laws, as long as they make some sense and are
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consistent. Most interesting right now is the delicate tension over the
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classification of network services such as Compuserve and Prodigy. Are
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they publishers, liable for the information they disseminate, or
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utilities and common carriers, required to carry anything for the public
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at large -and therefore not liable for its content? Or is this a false
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dichotomy (as AMIX's Phil Salin asserts): For example, a BBS might be
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like a bookstore: free to select the books it stocks and sells, but not
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responsible for their content individually (i.e., for libel, say). Nor
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is the bookstore responsible for what anyone says inside its walls. Yet
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some "adult" bookstores and record stores have been closed by local
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legal actions. The precedents are muddy.
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Finally, there's the awkward question of how to make the network good
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for people without stuffing culture down unwilling throats. If you
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believe that broadcast TV is mostly junk and public TV is mostly
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subsidized culture for the well-off, how do we make networks a people's
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medium - real global villages rather than a global TV set or a global
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museum? Will people use them to communicate rather than vegetate if you
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make it easy? Can we regain the community involvement people lost when
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everything became too big and complicated? Are citizens' groups working
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over the net fringe groups, or are they harbingers of how everyone could
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get involved?
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I came to this with the benign American assumption that anyone
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apprehended by the police has probably done something wrong; spending
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time in Eastern Europe, watching the LA police videos and learning about
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some of the EFF cases have changed my perspective forever.
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I am now a board member of the EFF. But don't worry, Release 1.0 won't
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become a mouthpiece for the EFF. In fact, when Mitch Kapor asked me to
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join, I responded that I was pleased and flattered, but not sure I
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should join; I certainly don't agree with all the views of the other
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board members. "That," said Mitch, "is the point."
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In other words, I joined the EFF to help set its agenda, not just to
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help carry it out. and so I strongly urge that you get involved too.
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Esther Dyson is the Editor and publisher of Release 1.0, a newsletter
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covering the computer industry, from which this article is reproduced by
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permission.
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