RE: And the DTD says, "I'm NOT dead yet!!"

["Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@ingr.com>]

A person who accepts a position of public 
responsibility accepts public accountability. 
This does not restrict their freedom; it 
means they accept a higher level of responsibility 
for the effects of their public statements.
  
Reducing those who depend on and are circumscribed 
by their guidance to unsophisticated minds as a means 
to broaden the domain of such statements and reduce 
the responsibility to critically evaluate them before 
making them is to violate the trust placed in the 
position and to therefore, dilute the credibility 
of the current holder, perhaps, of the institution 
itself.  An academic mail address for non-academic 
office holders makes no difference.  I sympathize 
with your problem in your university, but the office 
holders of the W3C are not academics. 

The W3C staff is accountable.  It comes with the office.

Len 
http://www.mp3.com/LenBullard

Ekam sat.h, Vipraah bahudhaa vadanti.
Daamyata. Datta. Dayadhvam.h


-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Jelliffe [mailto:ricko@allette.com.au]

From: Bullard, Claude L (Len) <clbullar@ingr.com>

> The problem is authority and credibility.  If
> the public statements of the authorities are
> at odds with the policy as expressed in the
> record of authority, credibility suffers.

This is where I disagree; W3C is a consortium, but
it is hosted at several famous universities, so academic
(well, quasi-academic) freedom should be extended to its staff.