Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 00:55:08 -0500 From: David Wallace Croft To: lpwv@majordomo.hughes.net CC: Software agents mailing list Subject: LPWV: virtual anarchy of free traders Alan Handleman (LPWV Webmaster) and the Software Agents Community: > That said, I would suggest that there is an important question to > consider, and which may be the key to our solution. Here is your > koan: > What is the difference between "force" and "violence"? Are you suggesting that passive resistance, while not violence, could be considered force? If so, I would have to agree but I am reluctant to assume that others would readily grasp this larger definition. When one uses the word "force" in statements such as the Libertarian Oath, I think that people assume it means violent force. As an interesting diversion, the intelligent software agents community is now meeting at conferences and writing papers on ways to ensure levels of trust to avoid breaches of contract between brokering softbots. At this time, the Internet is an example of a working anarchy in that no real harm can come to software agents, such as clients and servers, through their interactions. Those failures of this working anarchy, such as denial of service attacks by overwhelming a server with frivolous requests or sending unwanted spam e-mail, are usually met with similar counter attacks. In general, though, no one is really hurt as it is just about physically impossible to violate someone's rights on the Internet. The line in our "Statement of Principles" bears mentioning. "They should be left free by government to deal with one another as free traders; and the resultant economic system, the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market." The virtual environment of the Internet will soon migrate to a pay-as-you-go client-server environment using micro-cash, electronic cash. This will become imperative when everyone and their brother gains the ability to unleash thousands of personal softbots from their desktop onto the Internet. But, just as toll roads that can electronically scan your vehicle and charge your account tenths of cents for every mile without the driver even having to slow down will soon become technologically and economically feasible and efficient, a "virtual anarchy of free traders" will naturally come into existence. Ironically, the spam and denial of service attacks that are suffered today on the Internet would only serve to enrich the intended victims in the future. There is a danger, however, that as the Internet becomes more plebeian, there will come an outcry for a legislated enforced control mechanism to prevent such abuses instead of seeking the more efficient technical solution of assigning natural costs. While we have the opportunity now, we should seek algorithms and mechanisms that, by promoting safe and reliable interactions, obviate the need for government interference. "The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power." -- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859 http://www.greatbasin.net/~doconnor/noframes/qgov.htm Some earlier scratch notes of mine on the topic of agents and virtual anarchy can be found at the following URLs. http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~croft/research/agent/crisis/ http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~croft/research/agent/etiquette/ David Wallace Croft Marion County Chair, Libertarian Party of West Virginia croft@cs.wvu.edu, http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~croft/lp/marion.html (304) 363-7913, 804 Old Hickory Drive, Fairmont, WV 26554-8344 *** * Libertarian Party of West Virginia (LPWV) mailing list * http://www.almost-heaven.com/lpwv/ * To send to all on the list, write to lpwv@majordomo.hughes.net. * To subscribe, e-mail "subscribe lpwv" to majordomo@hughes.net. * For the list commands, e-mail "help" in the body to the same. ***