[governance] Internet Bill of Rights - Hoping there's progress .. wishing for it to succeed.

[Dan Krimm]

At 11:07 AM -0700 9/25/07, Bret Fausett wrote:
>Words don't achieve power by the number of their authors but by the
>righteousness of their meaning. John Perry Barlow's Declaration of
>Independence for Cyberspace and the Cluetrain Manifesto are but two
>examples of similar documents, drafted by a few and adopted by many.


I agree with Robert, though, that if you want these powerful words to have
a tangible effect in the world of political power one must organize
politically and mobilize a broad constituency to talk about the ideas and
ultimately push for their adoption in law.

Words may inspire people from the top down but political power is
ultimately expressed from the bottom up and must be instantiated in
legislation, regulation and judiciary enforcement in order to take effect
tangibly in a society, especially in areas where markets alone simply
cannot suffice.

It's the "adopted by many" part that requires more than just the words.
The point here is to get public policy to reflect this agenda, and in fact
the Barlow Declaration and Cluetrain are not consistently expressed in
terms of law at this time.

This is a persistent disconnect in the policy dynamics of the tech
community.  Silicon Valley and The Beltway still view each other mostly
with apprehension (in the US, and I believe this dynamic extends
internationally as well).  This is a systemic problem of communities that
are not currently engaged in a meaningful exchange of ideas, and I think it
can (and therefore should) be improved.

Those in the tech community who believe that invention and rhetoric and
markets alone (should I add "consensus processes"?) can solve problems of
political power are fooling themselves.  And have no doubt that politics
are *intimately* and *fundamentally* involved in ICT policies by now, here
in the Information Society.

Politics are not mocked.  :-)

Dan
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