From: Matt Norwood <mrn2101@columbia.edu>
  To  : <cpc@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
  Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 12:13:20 -0500

[CPC] Re: Anonymity - Yes, I do care, but then what?

Just to clarify my position: I'm very much pro-blog in general, where
"blog" is the current buzzword signifying information produced and
published/transmitted by ordinary citizens. Not only does
self-publishing promise a democratic news-media environment less under
the thumb of moneyed interests, but personal blogging actually does
important work in creating and maintaining communities. But a
"community" is not an unqualified good; there seems to me to be an
inherent trade-off between social alienation on the one hand and
repressive cultural orthodoxy on the other. One can only hope, I think,
to allow people to choose to which communities they belong and to limit
the degree to which one community can impose its values on another
insofar as those values are not conducive to republican government.

Right; maybe "clarify" wasn't the right word at the beginning of this
message. I'm just saying: blogs are a net good, loss of privacy
notwithstanding.

Matt

> I'm rambling and not offering any useful ideas, but I have one thing
> to add.  I know that we focus primarily on the negative aspect of
> the blogosphere, but there is certainly a positive populist element
> to it as well.  And perhaps we have touched upon it a bit.  I don't
> know, let's just say that for every 1000 inane, bubble-gum "I
> kissed Matt Norwood with tongue" blogs, there are investigative
> journalistic blogs uncovering the lies that the MSM propogates for
> the administration.  I'm not convinced that the best thing at this
> point isn't just to keep pushing and talking and telling and using
> this sort of technology as the amplifier.  As legal experts, we add
> credence (deserved or not I won't say) to our opinions.


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