
Regulate the Internet like the real world or the real world like the Internet? - wrkng
http://nickgrossman.is/post/76566568384/should-we-regulate-the-internet-like-the-real-world-or
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tptacek
In every discussion like this I've ever read on HN, the implicit assumption
is: all the companies who take advantage of the new regulatory system will be
like Uber.

Why is that a valid assumption? The Internet is full of sleazy companies
utterly undeserving of anyone's trust.

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ef4
No, that's not the assumption at all.

The assumption is that any business that's not deserving of trust is very easy
to detect and kill in the internet era, solely through the distributed actions
of consumers with good access to information.

And this _distributed_ form of regulation is significantly less corruptible
than centralized, political regulation.

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nitrogen
Sadly, it seems that "good access to information" is the weak link in this
chain, which can easily be broken by SEO, astroturfing, and the like.

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randall
Can you imagine someone building an Uber scale business built on SEO,
astroturfing, and the like and people continuing to use it? I can't.

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nitrogen
I can definitely imagine an incumbent company using SEO and astroturfing to
prevent people from knowing a would-be Uber-sized company exists.

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datawander
Interesting post, however I have two things to bring up.

1) The author works at Union Square Ventures, which has a vested interest in
'2.0' regulation. A quick search shows that although it might not be directly
related to Uber, it is certainly in the ride-sharing space to the tune of $30
million [0]. I am sorry, but whenever someone (not the author personally, but
still...) has that much money on the table, it's hard not to take what they
say with a grain of salt.

2) What exactly is meant by the "real world"? Just because the Internet is not
a thing we can touch or see, that does not make it "not real" and thus things
that apply to the real world equally apply to things that are on the Internet
and vis a vice (which is a nice point the author does make).

In either case, I do agree that something needs to be changed and there is
something obviously foul with some of the things I have read recently such as
that NYC had has gone from 10,000 to ~13,500 Taxi medallions over the past 30
years, which is just bupkis. Throw that in with the fact that American-born
taxi drivers are a rare thing, the average taxi driver makes less than minimum
wage and the owners of the medallions make a killing imply something is wrong.
Please let me know if you'd like sources for what I just said, I'm sure I read
most of this on HN though.

[0] [http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/24/uber-rival-hailo-
reportedly...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/24/uber-rival-hailo-reportedly-
set-to-close-30m-funding-round-as-it-expands-in-the-u-s/)

~~~
datawander
Just another thought, I have grown to completely mistrust any 'well-used'
rating service and thus must say Uber and the like has a long way to go before
I will trust their ratings by one iota.

I remember a friend once opened up a bakery and sent out an email to friends
and family to review it on Yelp. So within a week of opening, there were 100+
4-5 star reviews. I've stopped using Yelp since then and have found a great
new review since then that I hope businesses don't discover, and so far they
haven't, and so far the reviews are spot on.

The role of government (in theory) is to serve the people and it will not make
any extra profit (aside from bribery, which again, leads to job loss) and in
fact lose their "elected" jobs if their regulations fail to protect people.

Uber and other companies have _a monetary incentive_ to squelch and play down
bad reviews. In a pure capitalistic system, one should simply follow the money
and realize that '1.0 regulation' doesn't sound so bad compared to '2.0'
regulation by companies that have a vested interest in manipulating it to
their means.

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mwhite
What's the review site? I won't tell.

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InclinedPlane
As a side note I hat the terminology used here and I hate that it's so common.

The internet _is_ the real world. Period.

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gojomo
"Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others,
shall be the whole of the law."

~~~
dreamdu5t
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.

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gojomo
Some may prefer Postel over Crowley.

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pikachu_is_cool
How about neither?

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benched
I don't see what this has to do with the Internet. Just because a _business_
uses a web site or app in place of the telephone doesn't imply it needs more
or less regulation.

