What We Do

Hypothesis

Five Administrations thirteen Congresses and sixteen Supreme Court Justices together, have neglected to protect people from harms and crimes online since 1997. RUI’s hypothesis is this Internet unaccountability on autopilot is primarily a failure of humanity, morals, and ethics.

Most Internet policies minimize government to maximize efficiency and profit. This technologic and economic absolutism has led to dehumanizing extremes. It is telling that people online are not humans, citizens, or customers, but dehumanized, rights-less, and consent-less ‘users’ & ‘products.’  

RUI’s research and education seeks to restore people as a high priority in Internet policy/design. It appears unreasonable and indefensible that a ‘We the people’ Constitutional Government with an oath to support/defend the Constitution, doesn’t protect ‘the people’ from harm online by design.

To address inhuman Internet policies/designs, RUI seeks to work with scholars and contributors of every religion and non-religious ethical tradition who support protecting humanity and the most universally accepted people protection principle — the Golden Rule / Ethic of Reciprocity.   

Problem Summary

Universal Internet unaccountability is the problem RUI addresses.

This unaccountability problem stems from the common purpose of 1990s U.S. Internet policies and tech designs being an “absence of government” — the definition of ‘anarchy’ and maximal unaccountability – and the antithesis of Constitutional rights, limited government, and rule of law.

For 26 years, the American people have suffered unprotected from harms, crimes, and dangers that they cannot protect themselves against — a dereliction of Government’s duty and fidelity to the Constitution, the authority for all government accountabilities.

Solution Summary

Universal Internet accountability is the solution RUI proposes.

Our goal and solution is to fully restore U.S. Constitutional authority over the U.S. Internet to restore its sovereign authority, accountabilities, checks & balances, rights, and rule of law, online.

An Internet accountability coalition and public education campaign to restore Constitutional accountability online can generate the needed public accountability for Government, technology and corporations to protect people from online harms.

The solution is good government doing its duty. Protect people online like offline, equal protection under the law. ‘Same rules’ is the only reasonable, universal, and time-tested Internet accountability solution that most can support with intended consequences.

Premises

  1. Sovereignty, borders, the social contract, ‘We the People’ Constitutional authority, limited government, individual rights, rule-of-law, due process, and a duty of care, exist for the common good.
  2. Limits, checks, balances, laws, rules, processes, procedures, rights, properties, and moral/ethical responsibilities are necessary and reasonable accountabilities for the common good.
  3. Freedom with responsibility and power with accountability are necessary and reasonable common goods.
  4. Online anarchy’s extreme impunity to do whatever one wants to others is tyranny not liberty or equality.
  5. When one side, government, breaks the reciprocity of the social contract with universal Internet unaccountability policies, it naturally causes a breakdown in the ethic of reciprocity by the other side, i.e., society and the common good of its lawfulness, good behavioral norms, morals/ethics, and humanity.
  6. The Ethic of Reciprocity/The Golden Rule is among the greatest common goods because it discourages the worst in us and encourages the good in us: e.g., love, respect, responsibility, compassion, humanity, mercy, forgiveness, tolerance, reason, self-preservation, prudence, self-control, patience, honesty, integrity, civility, fidelity, dignity, decency, and a conscience to do right not wrong and good not evil.  
  7. An offline/online conduct double standard is inherently counterproductive, bipolarizing, and a nation divided.
  8. Inputs drive outputs; one gets the universal conduct one universally tolerates, incentivizes, and rewards.
  9. People and their rights are precious warranting reasonable government, technology & corporate protections.
  10. It is necessary and reasonable to fully restore U.S. Constitutional authority over the U.S. Internet.

Key Questions

RUI’s Research and Education asks/answers key questions, to advance Internet accountability and protect people from online harm. RUI embraces the Socratic Method.

For Government and Technology

  1. Are anarchy and America compatible?
  2. Are people and children worth protecting?
  3. Should morals, ethics, and human rights matter online?
  4. Who should govern us, people or technology?
  5. Is Government captive to technology elites?

For The American Public

  1. Should the Wild West Internet ever be civilized?
  2. Should Government continue to ban protecting people from out-of-control, cybercrime, cyberattacks, cyberfraud, and cyberbullying?
  3. Has Wild West Internet policy made America less: Safe? Secure? Stable? United? Prosperous? Free? Equal? Fair? Honest? Good?
  4. Do you want an out-of-control or in-control America and life?
  5. Do you want a better life and America for the next generation?

Research

RUI’s evidence-driven research holds government policymakers and self-regulated technologies and corporations, publicly accountable for reasonably protecting people from online harm.

RUI is pioneering new research tools to address the many unaddressed, Wild West Internet, macro questions and problems that warrant answers and solutions.  

MacroInternetics Research: is the study of the Internet and its policies/designs’ unusual systemic dynamics — i.e., incentives/disincentives; causes/effects; scale/scope; and help/harm — to understand their impacts on humanity, values, society, government, technology, and the economy.

Help-Harm Analysis: complements static, quantitative, and economic, cost-benefit analysis, with dynamic, qualitative, and people-centric, Help-Harm analysis. Together they can assess if an Internet policy/design helps people via prevention, protection, service, improvements, remedies etc.; and/or if it harms via endangerment, injury, damage, impairment, corruption, suffering etc.

Education

RUI is organized to provide educational materials, programs, and events, for and to the public, Internet Accountability Coalition stakeholders, and the Government, primarily online via a variety of media and methods.

RUI’s educational efforts will complement public policy analysis with RUI’s pioneering MacroInternetics Research and Help-Harm Analysis; the Socratic Method of asking thought provoking and ethics evoking Key Questions; and reason, logic, common sense, conscience, and documented evidence and statistics.   

RUI’s public education subjects include but are not limited to: Internet unaccountability/accountability; U.S. Internet public policy and technology designs; macrointernetics; pluralistic ignorance; how anarchy inverts incentives; The Tragedy of the Internet Commons; winner-take-all wealth transfers; the overall problem of America’s Weakening; the universal solution of restoring Constitutional authority online; practical Internet accountability solutions; humanity, moral/ethical, and rights dilemmas online; and Institutional capture vs. public accountability.     

Coalition