Journal: News & Comment

Leeway is the norm

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As Doc Searls notes, David Weinberger makes the best argument against digital copy prevention and "rights management" I've yet found. The crux:

[...] the fact that sometimes we resort to rules shouldn't lead us to think that they are the norm. In fact, leeway is the default and rules are the exception.

Fairness means knowing when to make exceptions. After all, applying rules equally is easy. Any bureaucrat can do it. It's far harder to know when to bend or even ignore the rules. That requires being sensitive to individual needs, understanding the larger context, balancing competing values, and forgiving transgressions when appropriate.

[...] What we really need is to recognize that the world—online and off—is necessarily imperfect, and that it's important it stay that way.

The best explanatory writing uses analogies well. Dr. Weinberger uses excellent ones to make his point clear.

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