Do We Need a Blogger Code of Conduct?

Filed in archive Wired Home General on April 14, 2007

Do we really need a blogging code of conduct, that says what we can and cannot say on our blogs? Tim O'Reilly sure thinks so.

Tim, and Tim's community, has created a nifty draft of a blogging code of conduct for all of us to live by, but really, is this necessary? It seems as though the folks that need the blogging code of conduct are EXACTLY the ones who wouldn't follow the rules even if they were in prison. And to be honest, I say let them have their say. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, as long as it isn't injurious to another person, and really, with the Internet being world-wide, there is NOTHING that can stop someone from posting something completely undesirable and unethical about another person, except for each of our internal moral compass.

Tim O'Reilly, while you mean well by proposing this, I see no need to have a blogger code of conduct. If we need a reminder to be more civilized, that should have happened LONG ago, maybe from our parents, and maybe from some power much greater than us.

After all, Ponch didn't arrest many real criminals, and a blogging code of conduct won't stop many either. The cops on Reno 911 won't save you either.