Comments on: Should the public police the Internet? http://blogs.reuters.com/uknews/2008/05/08/should-the-public-police-the-internet/ Our UK correspondents' insights Sun, 6 Jul 2008 23:42:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Tom Morgan http://blogs.reuters.com/uknews/2008/05/08/should-the-public-police-the-internet/#comment-2579 Tom Morgan Thu, 08 May 2008 14:40:14 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/uknews/2008/05/08/should-the-public-police-the-internet/#comment-2579 Police it where needed - sites or forums that target children should be closed down, as should sites that are scams. The great thing about the internet is that there is such a wealth of diverse information readily available, even if it is information on how to grow stronger strains of skunk cannabis or make homemade drugs and bombs. Freedom of expression and freedom of information are paramount and it sometimes seems as though the internet is their last sanctuary. Of course people should report crime if they come across it on the internet, just as they should in 'real life' but people should also mind their own business and get out more. Police it where needed - sites or forums that target children should be closed down, as should sites that are scams.

The great thing about the internet is that there is such a wealth of diverse information readily available, even if it is information on how to grow stronger strains of skunk cannabis or make homemade drugs and bombs. Freedom of expression and freedom of information are paramount and it sometimes seems as though the internet is their last sanctuary.

Of course people should report crime if they come across it on the internet, just as they should in ‘real life’ but people should also mind their own business and get out more.

]]> By: Ian Kemmish http://blogs.reuters.com/uknews/2008/05/08/should-the-public-police-the-internet/#comment-2578 Ian Kemmish Thu, 08 May 2008 14:16:45 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/uknews/2008/05/08/should-the-public-police-the-internet/#comment-2578 Authors and academics such as Jonathan Zittrain and his contemporaries are largely responsible for the fact that the Internet today comes with built-in anonymity but no built-in security. Wise fools they may be, but only fools could have believed that what they were constructing could turn out any other way. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution. One can be provocative and further suggest that they are also responsible for the widespread belief amongst the "Napster" generation that one can have an economy based entirely on theft and subsidy. In other words, for the fact that today we really DO need a policemen on every street corner in the real world as well as online. Authors and academics such as Jonathan Zittrain and his contemporaries are largely responsible for the fact that the Internet today comes with built-in anonymity but no built-in security. Wise fools they may be, but only fools could have believed that what they were constructing could turn out any other way. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

One can be provocative and further suggest that they are also responsible for the widespread belief amongst the “Napster” generation that one can have an economy based entirely on theft and subsidy. In other words, for the fact that today we really DO need a policemen on every street corner in the real world as well as online.

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