This is an important one to me so expect to hear more about it later.
Something occurred to me awhile back when we were fighting against SOPA , and it applies to any policy or politics that are affect the Internet, or any technology in general.
The frustrating thing about these policies is that they are often not defined or ratified by the people most affected by them. It’s important to remember that these people can’t implement these policies themselves.
Past generations of my brothers and sisters have laid the tracks on which run the most powerful engines of imagination in history. They carry the intellectual cargo of our past to the hungry minds of future generations. The name of this railway is “The Internet” .
We information technology workers are the only ones who can actually make these policies real. Congresspeople can’t configure a router, the CEO of the phone company doesn’t write code, and the President of the United States doesn’t haul cable. I understand that not all of us may agree about the sociopolitical aspects of how the network is used, but as engineers and scientists we can agree on how the network itself should run. By refusing to make changes to the Internet that make it a worse network , we can eliminate the most sinister of these policies. Moreover, we will be able to maintain our integrity as professionals as well.
It is key that we do this together. If everyone who possesses the skills to manipulate the workings of the network holds themselves to this professional standard, and refuses to pass these skills on to others unless they too uphold this commitment, the future of the network is secure. If not we are in for an uphill battle, and energy will that could be used to make things better will be wasted pushing against those willing to compromise the integrity of the network for personal gain.
This is something we can do without force, without violence and without bloodshed but instead by holding our power in restraint.
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// jjg