Re: Oregon License Plate Site in the News Tonight!

[jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>]

At 09:50 AM 8/8/96 -0700, Rich Burroughs wrote:
>On Thu, 8 Aug 1996, Declan McCullagh wrote:
>
>> Looks like we're a little late. However, we can still grab the tape from
>> Oregon's DMV for $220. It would be an interesting excercise to try to get
>> these tapes from each state with similar provisions and put them all
>> online.
>
>This information has been available in Oregon for at least a couple of
>years on CD.  I've always been concerned about the privacy implications of
>that service -- perhaps that's the upside of this story?  That people do
>give a rat's ass about their privacy?

Actually, the lesson to be learned is that the news media is filled with a 
bunch of hypocrites.  These people are supposed to be REPORTERS, for god's 
sake.  Are they trying to tell us that they've never gone to the DMV and 
forked over $4 to find out the owner of a car?  Can you say, "investigative 
reporting"?

I think they're just carrying water for their friends who work for government.

>I do think that the information should be able to be disseminated on the
>Net as long as it's legal.

While I think that the information should be disseminated on the net 
REGARDLESS of whether "it's legal" in any particular jurisdiction.  Or, 
perhaps more accurately, I think that this information shouldn't be 
collected at all.  Then it couldn't be abused.

Jim Bell
jimbell@pacifier.com