wjsullivan.net

Overloading the Machine

Fortune

The phrase "Founding Fathers" exists to make me giggle
The flexing of pectorals in a dream

I've known some pretty dumb chess players in my life
Further proof that standardized tests mean nothing more
Than a nickel in someone's lonesome tip jar

The Queen's Indian Defense won't save you now
Mistaking a herd of sheep for an approaching army
You too will be trampled underfoot

Want to get smart? Get a loan
That alone won't be enough
You'll need a couple jobs too

This course of action is in both of our best inerests
Studies have found that everyone
Wins every now and again
Just remember, don't be a sheep.

On the Internet, however, there is no check on silly rules, because on the Internet, increasingly, rules are enforced not by a human but by a machine: Increasingly, the rules of copyright law, as interpreted by the copyright owner, get built into the technology that delivers copy-righted content. It is code, rather than law, that rules. And the problem with code regulations is that, unlike law, code has no shame.

-- Lawrence Lessig, "Free Culture"