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[h2o-discuss] Propertization creeping in from a different direction.
If the thrust of EFF's new project to protect privacy, as described in this article, supports thinking about everything as packets of property with price tags attached, then isn't this damage to the opencode ethos, from "friendly fire," considering the source? (BTW I appreciated Robert Thau's post but haven't digested it well enough to respond.)
Putting a Price on Our Internet
Identities
By Renee Deger
The Recorder/Cal Law
June 14, 1999
In more moribund moments, many life insurance
policyholders have been known to joke bitterly
about how much they'd be worth dead.
Unfortunately, they have less of a clue of what
they're worth alive, says one longtime plaintiffs
lawyer.
That's too bad, because marketing and retail
companies are making a killing at dealing in the
habits and preferences of living people --
information people often simply give away,
knowingly or not.
That cloud of ignorance is about to clear, and the
average person may soon have a better idea of
what they're worth as individuals.
The San Francisco-based Internet think tank
Electronic Frontier Foundation is embarking on
an effort to put a price on the average person's
identity so that people can sue for damages if
their privacy is invaded -- especially their privacy
as Web surfers.
"An important part for an individual to negotiate
with a Web site is the total cost of ownership [of
themselves]," says Tara Lemmey, head of EFF.
Still in its infancy, the effort to value individualism
will be based in large part on how much money
companies pay for customer information, and how
much companies score for selling it.
"How many times is [an individual profile of a]
person selling, what's the value each time it's
used, at what point does it decay -- that
translates to what it's worth to a consumer,"
Lemmey says. <snip>
http://www.lawnewsnetwork.com/practice/techlaw/news/A2327-1999Jun14.html
Kenneth L. Carson, Esq.
Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, P.C.
101 Merrimac St.
Boston, MA 02114-4737
(617) 227-3030 telephone
(617) 523-4001 facsimile
carson@srbc.com E-mail