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How often have lawmakers and regulators proposed things that would significantly break the Internet and online communities/activities? It seems to happen contin
by munchbunny 8y ago
How often have lawmakers and regulators proposed things that would significantly break the Internet and online communities/activities? It seems to happen continuously, a few times a year.
Fair point. You can argue that not regulating the internet at all is overall better than dealing with all of the bad proposals. However, bringing it back to the post I was responding to, everyone wasn't celebrating the EU regulating the internet, everyone was celebrating privacy regulation in an instance where the system had gotten to a bad place on its own.
I think you're somewhat missing the key nuance of a point. There are actually two debates. 1. Whether to text while driving. 2. Whether a specific texting is too distracting.
You and I agree that the potential benefits are tiny compared to the harms of allowing texting while driving. On the other hand, you and I disagree that the balance is in favor of deregulating the internet.
That's a crucial difference. We never get to question 2 with texting while driving. We get to question 2 with internet legislation all the time.
Here's the thing, though. Is legislation a remedy for bad internet legislation?
Legislation doesn't exist in a vacuum, and bad legislation is remedied in multiple ways, one of which is more legislation.
That said, your question sounded to me like a rhetorical way to say that the risk of bad legislation isn't worth the occasional good one. Fair point. I disagree, but fair point. I don't think it's a useful debate to have because it's too fuzzy to be non-ideological, and, practically speaking, the world has already moved on from the question of whether to regulate the internet.
- stcredzero 8y agoFair point. You can argue that not regulating the internet at all is overall better than dealing with all of the bad proposals It's pretty never ending, and legislators and regulators don't seem to clue in over time. The downsides are very often potentially huge, and the upsides are almost always questionable. We get to question 2 with internet legislation all the time. Rather like living someplace where you get to kill cockroaches all the time. Legislation doesn't exist in a vacuum, and bad legislation is remedied in multiple ways, one of which is more legislation. The solution to violence is more and better violence? The solution to hostility and hate is better backed and more potent hate? Laws and regulations are manipulated by big corporations to their advantage all the time, sometimes in direct contradiction to how the laws are sold to the public. The best move is to refuse them that power. it's too fuzzy to be non-ideological, and, practically speaking, the world has already moved on from the question of whether to regulate the internet. The formulation isn't fuzzy or ambiguous. The proper amount to regulate the internet is as little as possible.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]