Blogosphere set for code of conduct

Today the BBC reports on web pioneer Tim O'Reilly coming up with the idea of a draft blogging code of conduct.

The draft can be found here.

Some of O'Reilly's proposals include:

We take responsibility for our own words and for the comments we allow on our blog

We won't say anything online that we wouldn't say in person

We connect privately before we respond publicly

When we believe someone is unfairly attacking another, we take action

We do not allow anonymous comments

We ignore the trolls

I understand why a code of conduct is being proposed, but I don't accept that rules and regulation that are common in everyday life should be the rules and regulation of a medium of communication that spans the globe.

For many people the Internet remains the only even playing field and to bind them up in regulations that typically favour the already powerful is wrong.

It seems to have escaped the attention of people like O'Reilly that we don't live in a totally civil society, as the past thirty years has seen national governments all over the world taking back democratic rights fought for ordinary people since the Industrial Revolution.

By all means regulate the blogosphere, but not before broader civil rights of citizens are reinstated to the level they were before the Regan and Thatcher days.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The blogsphere code is a good one.

Carmelo Lisciotto

Lazy said...

I most certainly WILL say things online that I wouldn't say in public. Jeeze.

Rule-makers get a hardon whenever they see something that they can regulate.

braddie granes said...

Thanks for sharing the list of rules and guidelines for blogging and commenting.

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