[h2o-discuss] Propertization creeping in from a different direction.

["Kenneth L. Carson" <CARSON@srbc.com>]

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