brainscat.com

A ZDnet blog that Matt recently pointed to asked the question, “How can we maintain the cleanliness of the commons against those who don’t share its ethics?”

The answer is simple and has been working since the dawn of collaboritive technology. Give everyone equal access to the commons.

The true implementation of a commons gives all the security needed to a community, because every individual is equally empowered to protect themselves and the community’s content. Power to protect the community as a whole is derived from individuals allying together since no one man is powerful enough to encite change without the approval of others.

A perfect example of this is the Wikipedia. “Offensive” changes on the wikipedia are quickly overturned because many people are more powerful than a single user. To deal with special cases the Wikipedians have elected a body who has the power to ban individuals, but this power is still granted by the whole of the wiki community and may at any time be revoked.

The Internet as a whole is hardly any different. Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Internet, has repeatedly stated that the Internet is merely a tool that allows our existing society to communicate. Because everyone once connected to the Internet has equal access, excepting China, the Internet is simply a mirror of ourselves. The Internet isn’t dirty/smart/cluttered, it’s perceived that way because we as a people and individuals are [insert your adjective here].

The only way to protect the commons of the Internet, the commons of the people, is to make sure that netizens never relinquesh their collctive power to any authority.

Isn’t it funny how this mirrors democracy?