[pp.int.general] Bullshit EU consultation

[Richard Stallman]

    If you respond, you've at least got some input.

If you respond, then you've (1) got some input and (2) endorsed the
ideas in the questions.

(2) is bad.  (1) is good, but how much good?  That depends on details
such as whether the people doing the survey want to pay attention to
you.  In this case, they don't.

Your argument seems to invoke the unstated premise that (1) is always
bigger than (2).  That is clearly erroneous.

    When I did one for the UK IPO last March, I disagreed with most of their
    assertions, to the point they actually delayed releasing the responses
    for a few weeks, while they 'sanitized' things. 

This is a benefit -- but not a benefit of "getting input".  From your
story, it is clear their conclusions disregarded your input.  Rather,
the benefit consisted of catching them in wrongdoing.  That sounds
like a useful victory, but one can't expect that to happen every time,
and it doesn't require lots of people to respond.

To have a chance of catching them in a wrong, while minimizing the
harm (2), responses should come from people or organizations of no
great prestige, so that their endorsement of the premises of the
survey will not be of any value to the people conducting it.

    Churlishness gets nothing done, and just becomes more noise, and one
    easier to discredit because of it's content.

Criticizing the hidden assumptions of the adversary is not churlish,
it is political debate.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation
51 Franklin St
Boston MA 02110
USA
www.fsf.org  www.gnu.org
Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software.
  Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call