Wikipedia founder on keeping a civil cybertongue
online.wsj.com
online.wsj.com
I don't get it that people don't get that the internet cannot really be policed! How would a law in the States stop someone from Iran to bully someone in a forum.
Who can stop them are the website owners, moderators and other members. It is really like in real life, some websites are small like small villages and need only one policeman, others like Wikipedia are like cities and might need a stronger 'police force'. The 'punishment' is easy and swift you just ban the user!
What is needed are stronger algorithms to automate some of these chores, not more lawyers!
The fact the internet is internation makes it difficult, not impossible for the Internet to be policed.
First, remember that even though the internet makes international dealings trivially easy, much of the interaction (most perhaps?) takes place entirely within the borders of one country. This makes it easily subject to that country's laws.
Further, even when it is truly international there are still ways of enforcing at least a large subset of laws through international courts, or by suing in a court with jurisdiction over the defendant, or in some major cases through extradition.
And that is what can be done right now. With time and work, international governing bodies and more detailed treaties can be written to ease those legal dealings. (What form those can or should take is well beyond the current scope, but it is safe to say they are possible and even likely.)
(edited to fix grammar)
That is true and current laws in most countries would allow you to sue someone for defamation etc. Even cross-border in most cases. The problem is not the legal framework it is rather the policing that is the problem. Laws per se do not stop criminal activity. My own argument is that the community itself should do the policing, perhaps aided by better software and a device that ... can send a 60000 kV spike back to someone's computer when he behaves badly :)
I see what you are saying, but while this is still very much an evolving area there is a great deal of good policing going on in the truly criminal cases. The FBI has a very impressive Cyber division for instance.
My own argument is that the community itself should do the policing, perhaps aided by better software and a device that
When it comes to things like low level harassment and simple rudeness, I largely agree with you. Good moderators combined with good automation should be able to keep that to a minimum.
When it comes to more complicated areas (adjudicating legitimate fair use or dealing with real hackers), then I believe it is necessary to have good laws with good, effective enforcement. At least from my perspective, while these things are in their infancy and are evolving rapidly, they can be and are being built.
can send a 60000 kV spike back to someone's computer when he behaves badly :)
Tempting thought in some cases ;-)