Sender: Arun Mehta <•••@••.•••>
> Summary from the moderator:
>
> If people on this list like this kind of direction-setting, I'll try
> to do it regularly.
Here's one who does. Great idea.
> Overly zealous raids
>
> they didn't have to
> confiscate the systems. To prove copyright infringement, all they
> had to do was take a backup. (Actually, this may be too
> time-consuming to do on-site, but at least they could try to
> return the systems as soon as possible).
Given the amount of tax dollars that bureaucrats waste on mindless things,
no reason why they can't sit there and make a backup, or several copies
even, where one stays with the victim. Shouldn't take more than an hour or
so with the right equipment? But far more importantly, an independent
agency such as the judiciary (sorry if that sounds incredibly naive)
should have the responsibility of deleting everything that does not
concern the cops. My computer should be treated no different than my home.
If they find out, for instance, that I have been dodging taxes, they could
blackmail me.
> Political participation for whom?
>
> On Sept. 5 Connie Page asked how electronic democracy would be
> brought to people who can't afford computers and Internet access.
> This puts us squarely in the middle of an issue we haven't
> discussed for a long while--the desirability and feasibility of
> univeral access.
Rather than talk theory again and repeat arguments we all have heard, I
have a practical proposal:
In the next few years projects are planned, such as the Iridium
that will send hundreds of satellites into low-earth orbit to
permit cellular connectivity anywhere on the globe. You need many
satellites since they fly low (so that you can communicate with
smaller, lower power devices) and therefore each has a small
footprint.
This presents a wonderful opportunity:
A. Capacity designed for developed countries, but
available also over developing countries.
B. Currently, not enough customers for the bandwidth in
developing countries, as a comparison of the size of
the American and other markets will easily demonstrate.
C. Wonderful opportunity for the rich countries to aid the
poor -- at no extra cost: the infrastructure is being
financed anyway.
Why not ask that the bandwidth not be thrown away, but given away free to
NGOs, educational institutions and the like? Sounds like a good
investment to me: these people will in time develop the capacity to pay
for the services.
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Posted by -- Andrew Oram -- •••@••.••• -- Cambridge, Mass., USA
Moderator: CYBER-RIGHTS (CPSR)
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