At 12:53 AM -0700 7/23/97, Tim May wrote:
(I am not trying to be rude to Bill, just making the point forcefully that I don't particularly care that these four choices are acceptable to "some people.")
It is this kind of attitude I wish to encourage thru custom, certainly not law.
I of course remember _lots_ of things about people, I share those memories on occasion (without requesting permission), I mention names, and I certainly don't recall every giving one of the subjects of my memories a cut of the action.
In a free society, it is not possible or acceptable to control what others remember or gossip about. Or even sell commercially.
"Custom" only applies to those who adopt the custom--the "law" is for everyone else. The question is: do we have a law demanding that people not remember certain things, or not gossip about what they've observed? I think even a totalitarian society will have well-known problems enforcing such laws.
When I was in Malasia, I saw signs in many stores which said in effect, In accordance with Islamic law, we offer fair prices. My experience with prices in stores with these signs is that they were lower than in some of the other stores. A similar approach could evolve for network sites. A sign saying that we follow the US Chamber of Commerce's code on fair information practices could easily evolve. My questions are, what should that code contain? And, how many different codes do we need? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | The Internet was designed | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | to protect the free world | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@netcom.com | from hostile governments. | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA