After looking at the article about NZ allowing people to suggest the
wording of local laws (see below), how about one in the USA where we
can do the same for a re-write of hand radio laws ?
Andy.
NZ police let public write laws
"Self-policing" should correct any corrupting entries
New Zealanders have been given the chance to write their own laws,
with a new online tool launched by police.
The "wiki" will allow the public to suggest the wording of a new
police act, as part of a government review of the current law, written
in 1958.
Police say they hope to gain a range of views from the public on the
new law before presenting it to parliament.
The wiki, one of the first of its kind in the world, is open to any
internet user, police say.
'Wiki sandbox'
The wiki is the latest round of public consultation in the 18-month
review of the 50-year-old law.
Launching a wiki version of a statute is a novel move, but one we hope
will yield a range of views from people interested in having a direct
say on the shape of a new Policing Act
Supt Hamish McCardle,
New Zealand police
The officer in charge of the review, Supt Hamish McCardle, described
the site as "similar to a whiteboard" and said it was open to anyone
who wanted to have their say on the new law.
It even includes a "wiki sandbox" that lets nervous newcomers practise
their posting.
The final document will be given to a parliamentary committee in 2008
to be considered with other information gathered during the review
period.
"Launching a wiki version of a statute is a novel move, but one we
hope will yield a range of views from people interested in having a
direct say on the shape of a new Policing Act," Supt McCardle said.
Aaron Smith - from the US-based Pew Internet Project, which studies
the evolution of internet uses - told the BBC News website that the
wiki was a new frontier in online government.
"You see a lot of government sites worldwide allowing for various
feedback mechanisms... but in terms of bringing this to the public in
the form of writing laws, that's obviously a different thing entirely
and something that we certainly haven't seen yet," Mr Smith said.
He said any possible corrupting of the process should be reduced by
the "self-policing" nature of wikis.
"It would certainly be difficult for people to put in bogus
information... without people recognising that fact and the community
of users correcting that before the finished product is completed," he
said.
A "wiki" - from the Hawaiian word for "quick" - is a type of website
that can be easily edited by anyone. The most well-known wiki is the
online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.
--
Andy K3UK
www.obriensweb.com
(QSL via N2RJ)
