Emergent democracy is a precious, fragile thing. It needs to be
protected from assaults, especially those that rise to the level of
crimality: Libel, fraud, extortion. Without legal
protections, our newly sprouting digital democratic
processes will be stamped out before they can flower.
This vulnerability to oppression exists in third world countries–and
it exists in more subtle but also more powerful forms in the United
States, Japan, and Europe–and in all other nations on earth.
