Re:EU wants to require platforms to filter uploaded content,...
by antientropic on Thursday March 15, 2018 @11:31AM
(#16593695)
And the dictionary definition of lobbying is "to conduct activities aimed at influencing public officials and especially members of a legislative body on legislation" (Webster). If I send an email to my MEP to ask them to block the proposed filtering requirement, I'm engaged in lobbying. In fact, this GitHub blog post is a form of lobbying, since it explicitly asks readers to contact EU policymakers. How is that corruption? It isn't - lobbying is free speech and an essential part of the democratic process.
Re:EU wants to require platforms to filter uploaded content,...
by cyphar on Thursday March 15, 2018 @07:29PM
(#16597405)
> lobbying is free speech and an essential part of the democratic process.
It is, but then by your own argument it isn't a way to gauge industry expertise. Because anyone can lobby (so expertise isn't a factor -- and the politician isn't in a position to assess the expertise of a particular lobbyist), and those with more time and money can lobby more than anyone else. This is part of what makes it a problem, and makes people connect it with corruption -- because the only people who can effectively engage in corruption are the same people who can effectively engage in lobbying (those with large troves of cash).
I don't understand how this statement is in any way true? Corruption is generally considered illegal and lobbying is not; the dictionary definition of corruption doesn't require it to be illicit though, so by that definition it would include lobbying.
> you need the industry as source of technical knowledge
There is a world of difference between seeking out/commissioning technical input from industry on a subject and the industry spending significant sums of money on actively trying to bring their claimed technical knowledge to you unsolicited.