Re:Congress should invest in open-source software
by a1369209993 on Thursday October 15, 2020 @05:59PM
(#24794617)
> while lobbying starts with "talking to an elected official about laws that concern you"
For the purposes of discussing government corruption, "lobbying" mean "talking to an elected official about laws that concern you, with the implication that their response will affect how much and in what direction you use money to pervert the electoral process". (Obviously, corporations generally don't actually explicitly say that part, because plausible deniablity.)
Re:Congress should invest in open-source software
by notherthrowaway on Thursday October 15, 2020 @05:40PM
(#24794394)
We have made murder illegal and there is a “murder for hire” black market. How does that refute my point?
Not the OP, but ... murder or genocide is very clearly a crime, while lobbying starts with "talking to an elected official about laws that concern you", which is sorta normal in democracy, the elected officials should be available to talk. It only becomes problematic if it is overdone or done too secretively.
I think that a good and transparent lobby register is probably more useful than outright ban; at least an external observer can glean some information from it.