Blogging Code Of Conduct (Revisited)

Last week I commented on Tim O’Reilly’s call for a blogging code of conduct in the wake of death threats against Kathy Sierra. Today the BBC reports that O’Reilly has posted a draft code of conduct. There are some thoughtful responses in the comments section, particularly on the wisdom of banning anonymous commenters and expecting people to say on a blog what they would say in person: these sound good principles, but come under pressure in the light of those facing repressive governments. Other big names in the techie blogosphere are much more scathing: Dave Winer, Jeff Jarvis, Mike Arrington (Jarvis and Arrington links via Winer) and Valleywag all see this as ammunition for those, such as the New York Times (link via Valleywag), who want to lead some crude campaign against bloggers as being generally nasty people.

Just one quick thought before I dash out on a pastoral visit: I’m thinking about the New Testament teaching on law and grace and how it might apply here. Only grace can transform the human heart; law is there to restrain sin but cannot change the heart.

Technorati Tags: blogging, codeofcondcut, TimO’Reilly, KathySierra, DaveWiner, JeffJarvis, MikeArrington, Valleywag, NewYorkTimes, law, grace, sin