Tim O'Reilly writes: > Hey Russ, have you actually read Lessig yet? Yup, otherwise I wouldn't be opening my trap. He has some valid points, but the basis of his arguments is wrong. Code isn't law, code isn't even *like* law. Is it a constraint? Yes, of course it is. But it's a constraint that can be changed *except* when the law prohibits it. Code is an engineering problem. Law is a political problem. I can solve engineering problems all by myself. I don't need anyone's permission to solve an engineering problem. Political problems are essentially intractable, because good law is a public good, and is underproduced. > Lessig makes many rich and thought provoking points. They are not all > right, but they are all worthy of serious thought, not casual, knee-jerk > dismissal. Larry dismissed libertarian philosophy with a jerk of his knee. The problem is that he keeps concluding that bad law is the source of all of these problems. Well duh! What does he think libertarian philosophy predicts? Yes, he's asking good questions, but he keeps eliminating the best solution (don't regulate things) from possibility. Yes, I'm realistic and I understand that many people want someone else to be responsibile for their actions. So no, we're not going to get a libertarian society any time soon. I would be much happier with Larry if he said "Well, it would be better if we didn't try to regulate this, but given that freedom isn't in the cards, how are we going to deal?" It's fine by me if he says "We want to be other there, but the best way to get there is by going in this direction." I have the same argument with RMS all the time. RMS says "We must have freedom, we must remember freedom, we must talk about freedom, we must say ``freedom''." I say "Yeah, but the best way to get there is by going this way. It's in the direction of more freedom even though it's a more circuitious path." You can follow the paths of the maze and get there faster than busting through the walls. Don't accuse me of trying to bust through the walls, of jerking my knee. All I want from Larry is an indication that we share a common destination. -- -russ nelson <sig@russnelson.com> http://russnelson.com Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | The most basic moral/ethical 521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | question is who gets to use Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX | force, and when -- ESR