On Wed, Oct 22, 2003 at 04:47:02PM -0700, Steve Schear wrote:
I think the U.S. Constitution will stand in the way of widespread adoption of NDLs. They may have regulated firearms, though these laws are widely ignored by citizens, but I have yet to see a license for owning a typewriter or PC proposed. They have already ruled numerous times that the Internet is deserving of at least as free and access as print media and political flyers (which can be anonymnous and still pass legal muster).
You are an optimist. Us pessimists see use of Palladium/TCPA/NGSCB as all too tempting a means of regulation of the net. Initially one will not be able to get high speed Internet service at affordable rates without the big brother inside, but as this "voluntary" commercial regulatory measure proves not to curb behavior that certain powerful lobbies want controlled, there will be mandatory requirements imposed by law as per the Fritz chip. Perhaps courts will not allow such to be used for explicit censorship of otherwise legal free speech, but I'd not bet that an ISP would be required to allow "objectionable content" to pass over its wires under such a scheme. And once one must register to obtain certificates for Palladium/NGSCB attestation, one really does have a form of net drivers license.
steve
-- Dave Emery N1PRE, die@dieconsulting.com DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493