Subject: Re: [lojban] where the mailing lists lie

From: lojbab <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 15:36:36 -0400

At 01:21 PM 4/20/02 +0000, Robert J. Chassell wrote:
>[email-masked] wrote:
> They can't sell what you don't give them. (Hint: they have no way
> to verify the truth of anything you enter into their data fields,
> other than your email address. ....
>
>As a matter of good governance, a country should never encourage
>decent people to lie.

That is fine, if "governance" is the issue. The net is a bastion of 
freedom from government, and many of the same people who argue most 
strongly for the freedom of the net also are quick to take advantage of 
that freedom for profit. I don't see any solution that does not impinge on 
freedom in some way.

>The social arrangements should encourage honesty.

There will always be people who will take advantage of the honesty of 
others, which thus may discourage honesty.

> (Note that `white lies' and other such diplomatic remarks
>are quite different from making direct claims that are false. Also,
>you should never have to deal with a business as if it were like a
>friend wearing mismatched socks.)

"Should" is a moral question. Corporations in a free market tend to be 
amoral, other than in terms of what produces a better bottom line. Most 
net-based companies are in bad shape, in terms of the bottom line, and 
being moral (as opposed to merely legal) may mean being bankrupt.

>Indeed, a country should arrange matters such that acting in an honest
>manner is without doubt the best action.

That means more government interference, something I never thought I would 
hear you advocate %^)

lojbab