63 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
63 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
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\section{European Autonomy and Domestic Meddlers}
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\dropcap{S}\kern3pt ince\plainmargintext{by Tom Jennings,�
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1:125/111, June 89. An article I wrote for FidoNews, the�
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electronic newsletter of the FidoNet communications�
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network.} I see my name is getting dragged into this, I thought�
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I'd respond on the subject of Zone 2's autonomy, which is really�
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an issue of control.
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First of all, no one need worry about trademark abuse; I am in�
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contact with all parties involved, and there is nothing to worry�
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about. Things will be settled to everyone's benefit and�
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satisfaction. No further discussion is needed on this matter.
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It is none of our business\margintext{What's going on is,�
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provincial law'n'order control freaks in the U.S. were (and still�
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are) trying to make (in this case) European FidoNet members�
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behave `like us', the `correct' way. Same old story. It's�
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especially embarrassing in an international environment. The good�
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part is that it really {\rm is} an inter-national environment,�
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and people {\rm are} learning. It's not a pretty process to watch�
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though, and real damage does get done along the way. Oh well.}�
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how Zone 2 (or any other zone) runs their network(s), other than�
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how they interface to us, just as it is no business to net 125�
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how net XYZ runs theirs, unless it somehow physically affects our�
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operation. If they have different criteria for joining a network,�
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what business is it of ours? To meddle ahead of time ``in case�
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they do something awful'', is silly; they are no more (or less)�
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likely to do something stupid than we in Zone 1 are. Europe is�
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not just the U.S.-only-different; it is a totally different�
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environment, socially, technically, legally and politically.�
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Europe is none of our damn business.
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Zone 1 is not the police force of the world. Have we not learned �
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our lessons from other arenas? We do not ``have'' a unified
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world-wide network, nor is such a thing even desirable. What we�
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do have is a number of cooperative networks, that can cooperate�
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in a world-wide networking effort. This is a critical difference.
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Unfortunately, meddlers and control freaks will not give up until�
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everything not exactly like themselves is squashed or�
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controlled\margintext{It's funny for me to read two years later�
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and see how fast and how far the law'n'order mentality has gone�
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in this country. Ha ha.}. Or they are in turn removed. We have a�
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growing bureaucracy in our Zone 1 that wants to reorganize us�
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from being a bottom-up network, where sysops choose their net�
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hosts and other /0's, and determine how to run their own BBS,�
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nets and lives, to one (according to POLICY4) where the existing�
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bureaucracy picks their own region and net hosts. Bureaucrats�
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always tell us, if they can control this one more thing, then all�
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the problems will be solved.
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Our network has never run smoothly, and I propose that it will�
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{\it never} run smoothly; this is good, not bad. It means we're�
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alive, only dead rigid bureaucracies are pure order. (Or pretend�
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they are.) Excessive order is not good for any organism. It�
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stifles creativity and free expression. Let's take a hint from�
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history, OK?
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