From: Hal Finney (hal@rain.org)
Date: Sat Dec 19 1998 - 11:55:41 MST
Ken Meyering, <ken@define.com>, writes, regarding non-initiation of force:
> I agree 100%. However, *information* itself is a form of force. For
> example, ubiquitous broadband is a form of force. I'm *FOR* widely
> available broadband. However, if we deploy supercomputing hypercube
> superparallel terabyte ram lasercom autorouter DSP wireless HDTV
> proxies in the free world, we need to eliminate the unfree world,
> less they use these items *against* us.
How could ubiquitous broadband be a form of force?
Are you talking about having screaming TV monitors which would float
above our heads and follow us everywhere, drowning us with verbiage so
that we can't even hear ourselves think? This would be a form of force,
but I don't see how the mere availability of information that I might
or might not choose to listen to can be said to be force.
And why on earth would we have to eliminate the "unfree" world (which by
some people's definitions would include virtually everyone)? How could
they use HDTV against us? How am I threatened if Saddam Hussein is able
to broadcast on HDTV? It would be just another foreign language channel
on the cable system.
I haven't been able to follow any of Ken's reasoning.
Hal
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