FC: Eric Lee Green on what "cyber-libertarians" don't get

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Anyone want to reply? --Declan]


----- Forwarded message from owner-politech () politechbot com -----

From: Eric Lee Green <eric () badtux org>
Organization: BadTux: Linux Penguin Gone Bad (http://badtux.org)
To: politech () politechbot com
Subject: eResolution pulls out
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 14:52:07 -0700

http://www.eresolution.com/pr/30_11_01.htm

Domain name dispute resolution outfit eResolution has pulled out, saying that 
the "shopping" provisions of the ICANN process inherently bias the process in 
favor of outfits that blindly rubber-stamp the trademark owner's request for 
the domain. Acknowledgement of the failure of the ICANN system is perhaps the 
end of the cyber-libertarian's dream of an Internet governed by private 
courts, rather than by government courts. 

This also exposes one of the inherent flaws of private courts: specifically, 
that they have a financial reason to rule one way or the other. There are 
some groups, such as credit card and insurance companies, that have 
specifically set up their own private courts (e.g. "National Arbitration 
Forum") for exactly this reason after the government courts ruled against 
them in fraud and financial misconduct cases. Do a Google search if you 
wonder how their own private kangaroo courts rule. 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=national+arbitration+forum+first+usa+99.6

Government courts have their own flaws. But at least they don't have a 
financial incentive to rule one way or the other. Free enterprise in the 
courts business has been a staple of libertarian literature for years. 
Unfortunately, the experience of the past 20 years of Supreme Court 
revisionism regarding contract law and arbitration, with ICANN, NAF, and 
others as examples, shows that it just doesn't work. The profit motive seems 
to be inherently incompatible with justice.

Eric Lee Green          GnuPG public key at http://badtux.org/eric/eric.gpg
           mailto:eric () badtux org  Web: http://www.badtux.org

----- End forwarded message -----



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