[CS-FSLUG] Let's Talk About It: Web of Trust

[Ed Hurst]

Don Parris wrote:
> On 12/28/05, Ed Hurst <ehurst at asisaid.com> wrote:
> 
>>I'm contemplating an article for Tim's Ofb.biz on the subject of the Web
>>of Trust. Specifically, I'm considering the community nature of the
>>Internet. A certain amount of commercial exploitation is unavoidable,
>>and even welcome. However, the apparent attitude of some commercial
>>entities is they bear no accountability whatsoever if their paying
>>customers violate Netiquette. However, do not limit your comments to
>>that alone. Let's philosophize, maybe play the Devil's Advocate, etc.
> 
> Would you mind giving me an example of what you're talking about?

Assumption: If you connect to the Net in any fashion, you are 
honor-bound to abide by RFCs, for example. There are major players which 
refuse to provide an "abuse@" mailbox, which is required by RFC 2142. 
The enforcement is strictly voluntary for now.

There are activists out there doing what they can to legally pressure 
the big-boys, but some resist everything (can you say "AOL"?) because 
their user base is too large to ingore, or because they actually run 
major Net traffic hardware. Blacklisting/blocklisting is only mildly 
effective, and results in major propaganda backlash.

While fighting these types of misbehavior is arguably Quixotic, to 
simply drop it makes things only worse. What are the moral grounds for 
continuing the fight, for attempting to enlist others in the fight? What 
can we as a list together say for or against any part of this issue?

-- 
Ed Hurst
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