I mentioned some time ago that my blog was being copied and used in a splog. As the content was used to farm Google Adwords, I felt that this was done in breach of the terms of the Creative Commons licence I use. I started the process of sending a DMCA notice of take down, but I never got around to it, it always felt wrong (or even hypocritical) for me to use something which I otherwise despise.
Fortunately, the sploggers involved have been probably getting in trouble with their host, and so they have started offering a link to take-down content. While I was suspicious about it, I decided to send a request. What do you know? All of the content has been removed!
Anyway, this has got me thinking about the regulation of online content, and I feel that this is further proof for the growth of alternative online regulation, the growth in a bottom-up approach to regulating content that bypasses legislation and the courts, and has put in place a very effective norm-setting system, enforced by the users. Granted, this system does not work against things like spam, but I believe that most practices have some form of regulation in the shape of community enforcement of some sort (not vigilantism, mind).
So, we now have ethical sploggers. What’s next? Cuddly porn lords?
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