Bad Ideas, Poorly Executed

Posted on March 16, 2007

Via AssignmentZero, I discovered this manifesto from a supposed new "open source political party" in Massachusetts that says their aim is to start by electing a member to the Boston City Council.

This is our 10-point platform:

1. We support the democratization of local governments through the use of digg-style lawmaking.
2. We believe social media websites represent the future of participatory governing.
3. We believe traditional voting processes should be augmented with secure web-based voting systems.
4. We want to see open source software, formats and philosophies replace proprietary products such as the ruling Microsoft monopoly in public agencies.
5. We demand that all politicians keep regularly updated blogs, with open comment systems, to maintain contact with their constituents.
6. We want to see wiki-style collaborative writing of proposed laws and bills.
7. We demand that all governing bodies publish Youtube-style video of all public meetings and votes.
8. We support a total reform of patent, copyright and intellectual property law to reflect free and open Creative Commons-style licensing.
9. We are against the implementation of draconian DRM systems.
10. We want open VOIP, email and IM lines of communication with our elected officials.

Two reactions:

1. "Digg-style lawmaking"? Sweet Jesus, I can’t think of anything I would want less. Would we really be better off if the Congressional Record looked like this?
2. Some of their goals are laudable (limiting DRM, more openness/transparency, copyright reform), but they have nothing to do with the actual business of the Boston City Council. These issues don’t get decided at the city council level; mostly they’re set by Congress and state legislatures. And beyond that, it’s bad politics to run a campaign on issues that have nothing to do with the office you’re running for. People want their city council members to fix potholes and buy snowplows, not reform copyright. These guys should be running someone for the Massachusetts state legislature if they’re gonna bother with this at all.