At 1:49 AM 9/7/95, Mac Norton wrote:
Tim and I have corresponded about this previously, and again he neglects the distinction between collection and storage, on the one hand, and retrival and dissemination, on the other. If you do the latter, your content better be accurate.
That's the difference in Tim and TRW. So far.:)
I don't really disagree with Mac, at least practically speaking. (At a much deeper level, much deeper in terms of philosophy, I'm not even sure _disseminators_ of information have any real necessity to be correct. This is the issue of truth, reputation, etc. that we discuss so often. But, I admit that the legal system does not support my anarcho-capitalist extreme position, which is why I say I don't disagree with Mac, "practically speaking.") However, even if I were to start distributing the results of "Tim's BlackNet Dossier Service," I don't think there's any justification for people insisting that they have a right to "inspect" my records. I think the current U.S. law is not too far from my own views. The credit reporting agencies have an obvious interest in having accurate information--except for the folks in the Witness program--and will eventually correct errors. (Not everyone is happy with the speed, but this is life in a world of finite resources; and I acknowledge that there are pathological cases of incorrect identity, etc.) I still favor free market alternatives to top-down government "protection." And, lest anyone think I'm lapsing in my basic beliefs, I lean toward throwing out _all_ laws about libel, slander, and false information. After all, "what is truth?," to coin a phrase. --Tim May ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."