If a tree blogs in the forest
One other thing wrt the last entry. In his answer to Dave Rogers, "Doc" Searls says:
Well, what is this? A medium? Or a place? The distinction seems academic until it comes time to regulate it. Then it's all a matter of how you frame it. The results can (and will) be very different.
If only it were that simple. The idea that we're all free to "say what we damn well please" is disingenuous. It's not about utterance. It's about audience. I can say what I damn well please till my face turns blue, but if no one is listening, what difference does it make? The hierarchy doesn't inhere in the medium, it inheres in the distribution. Does anyone really think that a truly pure meritocracy could possibly result in a network so heavily dominated by white males? Could you possibly believe that for one minute while still having even a jot of common sense? I don't think so.