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Lessig Wagers His Job On Anti-Spam Theory
kien writes "Lawrence Lessig is betting his position at Stanford on his anti-spam legislative recommendations. From his blog:'First the analysis: Philip Jacob has a great piece about spam and RBLs. The essay not only identifies the many problems with RBLs, but it nicely maps a mix of strategies that could be considered in their place. But, alas, missing from the list is one I've pushed: A law requiring simple labeling, and a bounty for anyone who tracks down spammers violating the law. Here goes: So (a) if a law like the one I propose is passed on a national level, and (b) it does not substantially reduce the level of spam, then (c) I will resign my job. I get to decide whether (a) is true; Declan can decide whether (b) is true. If (a) and (b) are both true, then I'll do (c) at the end of the following academic year.' The Declan referred to in point (b) is Declan McCullagh." Update: 01/07 02:45 GMT by T : Speaking of whom, here is Declan's acceptance of Larry's bet.
Please resign now (Score:1) by argoff (142580) on Monday January 06, @08:25PM (#5029794)
Phew, I might get moded out of exsistence on this, but IMHO he should resign now. His views on copyright monopolies are simply wrong. He reminds me of the people who thought that the free states could peacefully get along with the slave states, but in the information age. He simply refuses to understand that we are quickly entering into an age where either all information will be controlled or all information will be free. Information is so easy to copy, modify, and manipulate - there can be no middle ground.
There is an old saying, give me my tea hot or iced, but if it is lukewarm I will spit it out of my mouth. His position that intellectual property still has a place in the information age while decrying all it's problems is just that.