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Reminds me of the ongoing fight over crypto-legislation. "They only have to win once, you have to be vigilant and win every single time" I also suspect that t

Reminds me of the ongoing fight over crypto-legislation. "They only have to win once, you have to be vigilant and win every single time" I also suspect that the current patent mess is a result of failing to win the continual defensive battle. I'd be interested to hear from any law or political theorists regarding this seemingly deep flaw in the system. What could be done to mitigate it? How do we stop the same bad laws being proposed in slightly different forms again and again when vested interests combine with a poorly informed legislature?

sjwpv 8y ago
>They only have to win once, you have to be vigilant and win every single time The law is not a blockchain ledger. If bad law gets in, it can also get removed later.
- technofiend 8y ago
  It can be but it's an uphill battle the entire way and opponents try to shame crypto supporters with the Four Horsemen of the Crypto Apocalypse: Terrorists, Child Pornographers, Tax Evaders and Those Who Have Something To Hide. Any objection to government surveillance is met with "Well you must be a member of or support the activities of" one or more members of the aforementioned groups. It's better to never let a bad law in than remove it later because people are irrational and bring these emotional arguments into play.
- jessaustin 8y ago
  That takes a long time. In USA we've been trying to end drug prohibition for decades.
  - sjwpv 8y ago
    That's because there's a big amount of people, myself included, who feel like drug prohibition is good, all things considered. Not because "editing" the law is hard. (I am not American).
    - jessaustin 8y ago
      That doesn't make the situation different. All of these bad laws have supporters. (Largely because charlatans in government, law enforcement, and media constantly exaggerate dangers, but that's beside the point.)
      - sjwpv 8y ago
        By "bad law" I meant laws with absolutely no public support, not laws which are "objectively bad" (such thing made doesn't make sense)
        pas 8y ago
        There's plenty of public support for even the most dystopian laws.
- makomk 8y ago
  That's not so easy for EU laws. The only body that can propose new EU laws is the European Commission, which ordinary voters have essentially no influence over. (Some of the non-EU Europe-wide bodies are even worse.)

sjwpv 8y ago

>They only have to win once, you have to be vigilant and win every single time The law is not a blockchain ledger. If bad law gets in, it can also get removed later.

technofiend 8y ago
It can be but it's an uphill battle the entire way and opponents try to shame crypto supporters with the Four Horsemen of the Crypto Apocalypse: Terrorists, Child Pornographers, Tax Evaders and Those Who Have Something To Hide. Any objection to government surveillance is met with "Well you must be a member of or support the activities of" one or more members of the aforementioned groups. It's better to never let a bad law in than remove it later because people are irrational and bring these emotional arguments into play.
jessaustin 8y ago
That takes a long time. In USA we've been trying to end drug prohibition for decades.
- sjwpv 8y ago
  That's because there's a big amount of people, myself included, who feel like drug prohibition is good, all things considered. Not because "editing" the law is hard. (I am not American).
  - jessaustin 8y ago
    That doesn't make the situation different. All of these bad laws have supporters. (Largely because charlatans in government, law enforcement, and media constantly exaggerate dangers, but that's beside the point.)
    - sjwpv 8y ago
      By "bad law" I meant laws with absolutely no public support, not laws which are "objectively bad" (such thing made doesn't make sense)
      - pas 8y ago
        There's plenty of public support for even the most dystopian laws.
makomk 8y ago
That's not so easy for EU laws. The only body that can propose new EU laws is the European Commission, which ordinary voters have essentially no influence over. (Some of the non-EU Europe-wide bodies are even worse.)