Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> writes: Declan reposting something he wrote last year:
After I pointed this out to Bell on the phone [someone might assassinate annoying neighbors], he fired email back a few days later saying, "Assuming a functioning Assassination Politics system, nothing stops you from contributing to my death." He suggested that maybe assassins would develop scruples: "You'd be able to purchase deaths of unworthy people, but it might be only at a dramatically higher price. Doable but not particularly economical."
You interpret Jim as implying "maybe assassins would develop scruples"; this doesn't look like the meaning of what you quote Jim as saying: "You'd be able to purchase deaths of unworthy people, but it might be only at a dramatically higher price." it looks more like Jim was suggesting that free market forces would tend to prevent deaths of lesser known people. Think about it -- it would be dead easy to get a contract on Barney due to the number of people who know and hate him -- but on an average neighbor, who is completely obscure, you'd easily have to fund the entire bet yourself. Adam