Something to Think About

Do you think it feasible to attempt to organize the users of Internet into a town-meeting-style representational democracy that would eventually become the authority in any disputes that might arise between parties in far-flung jurisdictions?

I'd propose the enforcement of rules against what are now generally accepted forms of rudeness. For instance, I'd support keeping records of--and blacklisting--``criminals'' who send mail bombs that crash systems, send inappropriate Usenet News and cross-postings, or harass people by sending junk E-mail. Business advertising could also be regulated.

David L. Nicol

Kansas City, MO

The kind of policing you describe probably won't happen on the Internet because nobody controls it. The Internet is just that--an ``internetwork.'' It's up to the sysops on individual systems to decide wha t is and is not acceptable; the Internet now seems to thrive on anarchy.

However, I believe this is also the Internet's greatest weakness. As more and more people gain access to computers, the more unruly behavior we'll see. The Internet could eventually go the way of CB radio, which was ruined by nitwits who spent hours whistling into their microphones and would-be disc jockeys who played country-music records all night. On-line equivalents of these behaviors are evident already. --Tom R. Halfhill