Locksmith's Guild wants limit on free speech

This is just an informal pointer, as I don't have the energy right now
to track down quotes, official positions, etc.

Check out comp.org.eff.talk for discussion of how "professional
locksmiths" are angry that "amateur locksmiths" (unlicensed, not real
members of the Brotherhood) are using the Net to disseminate and
discuss the Secret and Most Arcane Knowledge of the Guild.

And alt.locksmithing is carrying the stuff.

This is just one of several recent examples where a controversy is
developing. 

I have often likened the end of the medieval guilds to our current
situation. In 1300 A.D., the "Blacksmith's Guild" owned and controlled
the knowledge of blacksmithing, enforced by the Crown. Apprentices
were Initiates, and I have little doubt that attempts to "steal"
this knowledge were dealt with harshly, probably fatally.

This "intellectual property law" of its time was rendered moot when
books became economical. The first books published after Gutenberg
were religious in nature--Bibles and hymnals, etc. Then came "How To"
books, the destroyers of the Guilds.

Crypto and remailers are going to do the same thing to today's
versions of guilds, what we call "licensed professions."

--Tim May

-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
                       | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
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tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May) sez:
 
TM+Crypto and remailers are going to do the same thing to today's
  +versions of guilds, what we call "licensed professions."
 
I've got PGP, therefore I can be a brain surgeon?  Well, yeah, OK.  
Pediatrician?  Hmmm.  'Nuther bad example.   Proctologist?  Sure.
How 'bout dentist?
 
There's got to be one or two licensed professions you're not thinking 
of...
 
                          -dlj.

david.lloyd-jones@canrem.com

 * 1st 1.11 #3818 * Aibohphobia: irrational fear of palindromes.

David Lloyd-Jones wrote:

>  tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May) sez:
>  
> TM+Crypto and remailers are going to do the same thing to today's
>   +versions of guilds, what we call "licensed professions."
>  
> I've got PGP, therefore I can be a brain surgeon?  Well, yeah, OK.  
> Pediatrician?  Hmmm.  'Nuther bad example.   Proctologist?  Sure.
> How 'bout dentist?
>  
> There's got to be one or two licensed professions you're not thinking 
> of...

I said nothing of the  kind about having PGP making one a brain
surgeon. Think about it.

Here are just a few more examples:

* Law. While anyone can offer free opinions, the U.S. does not allow
non-guild folks to charge money for such advice. And yet there are
many people well-qualified to sell legal advice (former lawyers,
disbarred lawyers, foreigners and those who haven't take the requisite
bar exams, those who failed the bar exam for reason other than
competency, etc.) I also know some just plain bright folks who have
read enough law to sell their advice in certain areas.

(By the way, the "well-qualified" qualifier should not be taken to
assume I believe some people should be able to sell advice and some
should not.)

(The government also regulates advertising, fees, etc.)

* Financial Advice, Accounting, etc. The "Certified Public Account"
and "Licensed Financial Advisor" stuff. 

* Geological. Structural. Architectural. All are areas where the
charging of money for services is regulated in some ways. In most
cases, the guild is that of "Professional Geologist," etc.

* Psychological Counselling. "Licensed Marriage, Family, and Child
Counselor" (LMFCC) is one of the guilds....others are Licensed Social
Worker (LSW) and, of course, M.D.s and Ph.D.s in various clinical
professions.

(Again, I make no claims that having PGP makes one a good
shrink--perhaps just the opposite. I do claim that a market may
develop for online psychological counselling, and that I know some
folks who would make better therapists that some licensed folks I know
(a former girlfriend of mine was an LMFCC). The law allows the LMFCCs
and LSWs to sell their services, and bars me from selling my therapy.)

And so on.

Again, I'm not claiming anything about PGP making conventional doctors
obsolete. Just the increased freedom of a wide range of services to be
negotiated electronically, without benefit of official guild
approvals.

(This is an actual concern the professional organizations have. They
worry about online medical diagnoses, about "unlicensed" consultants,
and about data bases over which they have no jurisdiction.)

I have many more of these points in my FAQ.

--Tim May

-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
                       | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
Cypherpunks list: majordomo@toad.com with body message of only: 
subscribe cypherpunks. FAQ available at ftp.netcom.com in pub/tc/tcmay