User talk:Robinia

From Lessig Wiki

I'm a new user on this wiki, although not new to L. Lessig's work at all (big fan for many years). Nor, it turns out, am I new to the study of corruption, having completed a good bit of documentation of it for my masters thesis, which studied a couple of decades of economic development projects in a county in upstate NY.

So, I and a fellow blogger have been looking for a collaborative space in which to work with others on a serious case study of influence in state government in the State of NY, aka "most dysfunctional" state legislature in the US. We have done some of this work through a state-government-reform blog, The Albany Project (see www.thealbanyproject.com), but that space is not intended for in-depth study, more journalistic in character. There was an attempt at building a wiki for the blog, but it was overcome with spam, and has been discontinued.

Am not sure such activity would "fit" the tenor of this work-- under "politicians," the readings and examples all point to Washington and national politics, and, honestly, there is not a lot of detail. What we are interested in is a place to compile a goodly bit of detail.... and, interestingly, it might be a means to bring to bear "open source law enforcement/citizen action on corruption," as there is a current investigation underway by the FBI/US Attorney. But, it is not a case of simple bribery, as per the explanation of what LL is NOT interested in, but, rather, an interlocking set of "interests and influences" that have effects on governance at the State level... and, through such things as appointments to the Board of Directors of the NY Fed, national and international influences, as well.

So, tell me, whomever may notice this page, is this an ok vehicle for building an open dossier among citizens on an ongoing investigation of influence in the NYS legislature? It would seem that the CC Attribution-ShareAlike release protocol would help FBI/US Attorney access and cite the work without difficulty if need be... but, maybe not? Am a research-type, not a lawyer... what is the best means to have an open platform that many can contribute to, that can inform and analyze aspects of influence that could be utilized by an US Attorney if helpful in building a case?

alternative

If Larry wants you here, then he certainly gets first dibs -- but I thought I'd offer Issuepedia as an alternative venue for your study, if the fit here isn't so certain. I salute your efforts, either way, and look forward to seeing the results. --Woozle 18:03, 20 December 2007 (PST)

Thanks, Wozzle. As I noted, not clear that this is a good fit; will await further input on that. In the meantime, we are exploring other options, and I very much appreciate your suggestion, which had not been on our list.