Owen wrote:
Perhaps a *zoning* concept is needed, in such that transactions would have qualifying conditions - or in such that *zones* exist as data-space with authentication qualifications for *entry* or transaction.
Pierre wrote:
Who qualifies whom, based on what info, and to eliminate whom?
I don't think that Owen (and certainly not any party to the argument at io.com) is suggesting a high-handed Big Brother approach to qualifying transactions. At least I hope not... However, I think that as the means of defining data spaces (whether in Usenet space, mailing list space, or IRC space) become more sophisticated and also more accessible, that the people who establish these spaces will want to also establish authentication qualifications. And whether this will be a Good Thing or a Bad Thing depends on whether it's based on reputation or on knee-jerk anti-anonymity bigotry. Individuals or groups that wish to create a data space, or who currently conduct transactions in a data space, *should* have the right to establish rules for entry and transaction ranging from "anything goes" to "established members of the foo-ology research community using digital signatures." I think that the best remedy for the tyranny and stagnation that can arise from this is to keep a very low barrier to entry for the creation of new data spaces. Despite this, I think that discrimination solely on the basis on anonymity is *dead wrong* and is on equivalent moral ground with discrimination on the basis of skin color, religion or unnatural fondness for aquatic mammals. I think it is much more useful to put the new anonymous entity on the same ground as, say, a first semester college freshman, and allow that entity meaningful channels for acquiring reputation, up to and including becoming an "established member of the foo-ology research community." Doug Barnes Founder of foo-ology and the 'foo' mailing list To subscribe, send e-mail to: foo-request@indial1.io.com -- ---------------- /\ Douglas Barnes cman@illuminati.io.com / \ Chief Wizard (512) 448-8950 (d), 447-7866 (v) / () \ Illuminati Online metaverse.io.com 7777 /______\