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June 25, 2005
MAKE: A new magazine subscription
I recently purchased a subscription to MAKE magazine, the new periodical for do-it-yourselfers (Current Issue online here, and the blog is here).
The first issue has an interesting article noting that the time is coming for do-it-yourself vehicles, and then the author goes on to compare different vehicle platforms that might make good "open-source" automobile bases. He ends with this interesting note:
A true people's car is doable. It just needs a Linus Torvalds (or maybe 20) and a user community. But before we throw down our Linux boxes to save the world with a publicly built 100 mpg tank, here's the biggest catch: legislation and registration. Most kit cars fly under the radar because the are registered as the original vehicle of the chassis "donor". A recent Californian bill allows for "special Construction" vehicles, but it's limited to 500 per year, and the demand already exceeds the allotment.This got me to thinking of the similarities between the regulatory issues mentioned and those of the FEC's would-be regulation of political speech on the internet (see all the special commentary on this topic at RedState.org).Unless a new popular donor chassis is appropriated from industry, a group or organization would have to agree on a chassis/body and have it crash tested. This is an expensive process, but NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
If the do-it-yourself trend is on the rise, then it seems that one of two possibilities will occur with regard to the resulting regulation of "do-it-yourself" activities and commerce: either the regulations that restrict human behavior will become increasingly complicated, abundant, impenetrable and asinine. or they will be swept away as fed-up DIY'ers grow in political power and lobby their politicians to repeal them.
There is a whole host of issues that this applies to: the regulation of blogging, and build-at-home cars being but the tip of the iceberg. I don't know how it will play out, but I have a feeling that increasingly complicated regulations will also have an increasing number of loopholes to exploit, such that the sum total effect of such regulations might be negligible -- though they'll certainly piss off a large number of innovative and creative people in the process.
Woe be unto the government at whatever level that tries to cut off human creativity.
As I've said before, the state is welcome to regulate my blog when they pry it from my cold dead hands.
Incidentally, MAKE is a great magazine, whether you are the tinkering kind or not. Even though my tinkering is limited to the blog-and-html-kind (do-it-yourself opinions, I suppose), it still gives me a good feeling to know that I can flip open the magazine and learn how to make an aerial camera from a kite and a disposable Kodak. This would be a great magazine to have lying around if you have kids that like to tinker too, I imagine.
Posted by Chester at June 25, 2005 3:56 PM
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