Regulation

Text editing blues

Like bad tasting medicine editing is an aweful process which is only done because of its obvious benefits. Its terrifying the amount of errors that can be spotted at this late stage. Today I even found an incomplete sentence… it simply tapered off like someone losing a chain of thought.

This is the begining up until the research question. Not sure about it though…

This work begins with the thesis that there is a strong relationship between the regulation of technology and the Internet based participatory democracy. In other words, the attempts to regulate technology have an impact upon the citizenâ??s participation in democracy. This work will show what this relationship is and its effect on democratic participation.
Taking its starting points from the recent theoretical developments in regulation, disruptive technology and role of ICT in participatory democracy, this work is the application of three theoretical discussions. These theoretical discussions are used in the empirical exploration of six areas: virus writing and dissemination, civil disobedience in online environments, privacy and the role of spyware, the re-interpretation of property in online environments, software as infrastructure and finally state censorship of online information. The purpose of these studies is to explore the effects of these socio-technical innovations upon the core democratic values of Participation, Communication, Integrity, Property, Access and Autonomy. The overall research question for this thesis is therefore:
What are the effects of technology regulation on the Internet-based participatory democracy?

To connect to an earlier ongoing discussion about the text: The book is now 257 pages long and 99 479 words long. Do you think that word can handle going over 100 000 words or will it simply melt…

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Mobile phone privacy

Gordon Gowâ??s report on Privacy in relation to prepaid mobile phones is out now. The report Privacy Rights and Prepaid Communication Services. A survey of prepaid mobile phone regulation and registration policies among OECD member states (download pdf here) makes interesting reading on the right to privacy.

The report comes at a time when terrorism is being used as a motivation for governments to limit or prohibit anonymous mobile telephones through prepaids.

Fifteen of the 24 countries that responded to the survey do not have an identity requirement; however, at least six countries considered and rejected a prepaid registration policy following a consultation process. These countries are Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands and Poland. The UK respondent indicated that the UK government might have informally considered and rejected registration.

The project website.

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Book Cover Design Competition

My phd thesis goes to the publisher in May and I need a book cover for the work. My own attempts have been less than exciting so here is a competition for all you creative people.

Design a cover for my thesis and I will use it. Your work will appear on the 200-300 copies printed, you will naturally recieve full credit for your work and a copy of the book.

The title of the work is “Disruptive Technology” the undertitle (which should not appear on the cover) is “The Effects of Technology Regulation on Democracy”

All submissions need to be in by May 10.

Spread the word!

UPDATE (13 April)

Some questions about the competition & thesis.

Format: Not entirely fixed but approx: Height 23 cm, width 15 cm, length 260 pages.

Colours: No limitations other than the budget does not allow glossy photo-quality covers.
The basic argument of the thesis is: While governments talk about the advantages that technology may bring to the democratic process they are more concerned with streamlining administrative procedures rather than promoting true democratic interaction. When unconventional/innovative uses of technology appear the regulatory desire is to prohibit rather than promote. A draft version of the thesis is available here.

The thesis will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license

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Banksy’s latest is a comment on the deregulation of state industries. In this graphic case it is an image of the change from the old to the modern British Telecom (BT). This is portrayed by a bleeding old style phone box in Soho (London)

A BT spokesman said: “This is a stunning visual comment on BT’s transformation from an old-fashioned telecommunications company into a modern communications services provider.” (BBC)

What the BT spokesman failed to mention is the reduction of universal service when follows in the wake of any deregulation. The transformation of a public service company into a modern industry player is not always something to be proud of. The mutilatd phone box has unfortunately already been removed.

Larger image on Banksy’s site.

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Google Cookie & the law

You may have known, or if not you should know, that Google tracks and records all your searches. All the pages you came from, what you searched for and where you went. This is done by useing a persistant cookie (Cookies and Privacy faq). (UPDATE: LINK REMOVED)

The information is stored by Google but there are only speculations as to how the information is used. No matter how Google intended to use the information it is doubtful that they expected that courts might subpoena their information.

In one amazing case Google “refused to comply with a subpoena issued last year for the records, which include a request for one million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period.” (Mercury News 18/1/2006).

OK – Google is attempting to refuse to hand over this information. However this does not mean that they will be able to refuse. In addition to this there is one question which seems particularly relevant. Why are they refusing to hand over this information? If they believe that any and all informtion should not be passed out then they are concerned with users privacy – this is however doubtful since they are themselves responsible for collecting the data in the first place.

If they disagree to this specific request but are in principle not against helping – this is a terribly civic minded approach however it raises grave concerns to many users. What happens when China asks for similar informaiton about computer users? What happens if your boss were to obtain all your searches – wha would such a picture say about you, and would it earn you a bonus?

The instance of organisations to collect data will always backfire. No matter the intended purpose of the data the process of function creep is inevitable. Technology and regulation is not the solution for this problem. The solution is to stop collecting the data. Or, in a perfect world, never to start collecting any data which is not absolutely necessary.

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Yahoo! & the Nazi auctions

A story which seems to drag on forever now is closed?

The auction site ran by Yahoo was ordered by a French court to stop providing auctions of Nazi memorabilia to the french public in violation to French law. Yahoo! stopped since their French assests were threatened but then compained that their rights to free speech were being violated by the French.

This case was an excellent example of a culture clash. It provides a look at the difference between European and US free speech regulation. Whether corporation should have speech rights. Whether free speech means speech without any limitations. American legislation tends to grant speech rights to corporations and is disinclined to limit free speech – nomatter the cost. European law (if there is such a thing) tends not to grant speech rights to corportations and is very much inclined to limit speech rights.
The case also demands a re-appraisal of the view that the Internet cannot be controlled by governments. It shows that the US cannot control the internet through its legislation.

It also shows the different approach a multi-national corporation takes towards governments. The difference between Yahoo!’s attitude to the French compared to the Chinese governments is an excellent example of the way in which multinationals act.

Anyway Yahoo! has now lost its lawsuit were it claims that the French courts violated the companies rights to sell Nazi memorabilia. The Yahoo! Case has been a central part of cyberlaw since 2000 – is it all over now?
Source: The Register

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Virtual Taxation

A problem that will only get bigger is the response of government offices, especially the tax office, to online incomes. Julian Dibbell has written an amusing account of his attempts to declare his earnings from a month of playing Ultima Online and selling his treasures on ebay. Dragon Slayers or Tax Evaders in Legal Affairs.

He ventured to say that it was doubtful the IRS would treat virtual items as cash equivalents anytime soon. Until the Britannian gold piece trades on international money markets, or until the value of a virtual amulet is as widely recognized as that of a beer, he suggested, “I don’t think we’re recognizing Dungeon and Dragon [sic] currency as legal tender.”

The Swedish tax authorities have begun (as many others) to struggle with the concepts of people making money by click thrus such as Googles Ad-sense. But I doubt whether they have handled online earnings to a greater degree – yet.

Ars Technica discusses the Dibbell article. Also read Internet Gambling Regulation Present and Future by Mark Methenitis.

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Censoring for China

Most technology companies that want to be active in China have to sign the â??Public Pledge of Self-Regulation & Professional Ethics for China Internet Industryâ?? which requires ISPâ??s to inspect and monitor national and international sites and block access to harmful content. In the case of China many companies are eager to take part in what promises to be a large and potentially profitable market. Therefore many companies are prepared to sign the Pledge to gain access to the Chinese market among the more notable signatories is the company Yahoo!.
A good example of this is Microsoft who has has shut the blog site of a well-known Chinese blogger who uses its MSN online service in China. The reason for shutting down the blog is that the blogger discussed a high-profile newspaper strike that broke out in China one week ago. Read more at New York Times “Microsoft Shuts Blog’s Site After Complaints by Beijing“

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Herring and Creativity

Herring is not the foremost on my mind. However I came across a recent thesis (defended 10 December 2005) by Hrefna M. Karlsdóttir â??Fishing on Common Grounds â?? The consequences of unregulated Fisheries of North Sea Herring in the Postwar Periodâ?? Doctoral Thesis, University of Göteborg. Read abstract here.

The term common property resource has been effectively used during the last forty years especially after Hardinâ??s classic discussion on the problem arising from an exploitation of a common property resourceâ?¦many scholars, especially anthropologists, have pointed out the misunderstanding of using the definition common property resource to describe a resource without any regulation. They have criticised Hardinâ??s study for allegedly ignoring the possibility of an information arrangement over a resource usage.
â?¦
When one gets rights under a property rights regime they are regarded as rights to use for oneself the benefit stream from the resource. This definition of property rights means that the claim one makes to a benefit stream is regarded as legitimate to those who it concerns or that it is protected by some kind of authority. The point is that it is not the resource itself that has any entitlement. Such entitlement lies with those who have the right to use the resource and benefit from it.
pp17-18.

Naturally I ignored the fish and found the commons. Good arguments with a few sources to look up. The interesting argument (for me) that the thesis puts forward is on the topic of how to create a successful commons. Here Hrefna writes:

Successful attempts to establish common property regimes or governed commons…are most likely to happen in inshore fisheries. The important presumptions needed include a small group of fishermen that have a stronger feeling for the common interests than for the individual, who know each other well and are able to control each others fisheries.
pp 20-21 my italics.

The last sentence there is probably the most interesting. The local fishermen could more easily persuade each other. Using tools such as social control and shared local values the commons could be maintained – probably becuase the shared resource is not depenedent upon maximising profits but ensuring a continued benefit stream for them and the future fishermen. The question therefore for me (involved in Creative Commons) is can such a local agreement be scaled up to an international level while maintianing this interconnectedness and social control necessary to maintain the commons?

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Thesis abstract

Strange as it may seem I have never actually written an abstract for my thesis. The title is Regulating Disruptive Technologies…the rattling you hear is the dried up remnants of a brain which seem to shake inside my skull when I write.

Different groups claim to be superstitous. I think deep down inside all Phd students are superstitious (a bit like Pascal’s gambit – the odds are better on believing!). So I will say that the date is closing fast but I will not utter the actual calender date.

Abstract
The main point of this thesis is to show that the regulation of technology is the regulation of democracy. To understand how the regulation of technology effects the regulation of democracy this thesis will study the regulatory activities of the regulator and the reactions of those being regulated. The driving force is the understanding of the effect of technological change upon social institutions. This work will examine the technological challenges to central social institutions and show that the technological change has far outpaced the evolution of the social concepts in these areas and as a result the technology can be viewed as being a disruptive force in society.

The understanding of the concept of disruption within this work is important. Disruption is as an agent of change in society. Change is a semi-autonomous driving force in society brought about by disruption. Therefore, disruption is the motor of change, change is what pushes, or pulls, society forward. Therefore the basis of this thesis is that disruption is good.

The locus of this work is the Internet. The study is on the regulation and over-regulation of Internet based activities. The measure of whether a technology has been regulated or over-regulated will depend upon the democratic effects of the regulation. If the implemented regulation tends to not only regulate unwanted/undesirable behaviour but regularly criminalises or frustrates many types of legitimate behaviour then the situation is one of over-regulation.

It is therefore the purpose of this thesis to look at the use of power through the regulatory structures. While the study of the creation and adaptation of regulation shows the movements and flows within structures, the reactions towards regulation shows the human actors desires to adapt and negotiate the new social orders being created. To better understand these processes it is necessary to look at the way in which technology can be seen as a disruptive force and the way in which technology and democracy are being linked together in rhetoric and practice. This thesis will exemplify, discuss and analyse the democratic effects of the disruptive effects being brought about by technology and the attempts to regulate information and communications technology (ICT).

The development of understanding of the way in which we regulate disruptive technology helps us to understand the regulation of that which is new and which threatens that which is established. The results of such a study can then be applied to all domains where regulation of disruptive technology may occur. This may be within an organisation, a family group, a multi-national corporation or a state.

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