INTERNET FREEDOM IS NOT INTERNET LICENSE

摘要

Freedom House's report represents a mix of the views of Bay Area Internet libertarians, circa 1993, and Internet progressivism today. The Internet libertarian view was a radical and ill-fitting philosophy in 1993, and it is even less appropriate now. Leading public intellectual Amitai Etzioni of George Washington University has spoken about what he terms "liberal communitarianism," where there are two competing concerns: individual rights and the common good. How do we sort out which takes priority under what conditions? He argues that when the violation of freedom is minor and temporary, and the public benefit is large, then policy should err toward the latter. Freedom House would have us live in a society where there are never violations of "freedom" and there is little or no concept of the public good.