COUNTERPLAN FREE MARKET 76

FREE MARKET - SHELL

PLAN: A free market in personal information will be created. All conflicting legislation, including the plan, will be prohibited. The intent of this proposal is to create an atmosphere for individual and market-force protection of information without government intervention. Normal means.

CONTENTION ONE: NON-TOPICAL

The counterplan is not a privacy protection created by the federal government, it is a withdrawal of the federal government from the consumer privacy protection field.

CONTENTION TWO: COMPETITION

A. MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE: The plan withdraws all government privacy protections, while the affirmative plan is a government privacy protection. You cannot do both at the same time.

B. TEXTUALLY COMPETITIVE: The text of the counterplan makes it impossible to adopt the affirmative plan.

C. NET BENEFITS: You maximize benefits by just using the free market and keeping government out

NON-MARKET PRIVACY CONTROLS WILL CRIPPLE BUSINESS, WHILE MARKET BASED CONTROLS WILL PROTECT PRIVACY AND BUSINESS

Noble Sprayberry, The San Diego Union-Tribune, August 22, 1999, SECTION: BUSINESS Pg. I-9 TITLE: Confronting the cookie monster; The issue of privacy confounds business and the consumer // acs-EE2001

Groups such as The Online Privacy Alliance, whose members include Gateway, Time Warner and the Motion Picture Association of America, lobby to allow market forces -- consumers voting with their dollars -- to decide what Web sites and companies offer an acceptable level of privacy.

Too many restrictions could stifle a robust industry, says Gary Clayton, president of The Privacy Council. He contends that market forces should determine how information collected on the Internet is used.

If people are too fearful to visit, a Web site won't last long, Clayton says, noting that companies such as Dell Computer, IBM or Disney tout strong privacy policies, which allows them to maintain consumer confidence.

D. REDUNDANCY: The counterplan makes the affirmative plan unnecessary

SELF-REGULATORY MECHANISMS TO PROTECT PRIVACY MAKE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS INNECESSARY

L.R. Ricciardi, senior vice-president and general counsel, International Business Machines, Financial Times (London) May 12, 1999, SECTION: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; Pg. 14 TITLE: Finding common ground on web privacy // acs-EE2001

New technologies and businesses that put into individuals' hands the power to prohibit or limit others from tracking their movements on the internet enter the market every day. As these technologies are increasingly used, the need for governmental edicts decreases.

Then individual privacy can be protected by various contractual arrangements. The most promising non-government initiative is the series of self-regulatory mechanisms that are springing up in response to a clear market-based demand.

E. NET BENEFITS: The counterplan will not link to any of the disadvantages.

CONTENTION THREE: SOLVENCY

THE MARKET IS THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT CONSUMER PRIVACY

Sonia Arrison, director of the Center for Freedom and Technology at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, The San Diego Union-Tribune December 15, 1999, SECTION: OPINION Pg. B-7: TITLE: UNCLE SNOOPY; Government may not be best in guarding consumer privacy // acs-EE2001

But the real key to addressing consumers' privacy concerns rests within the marketplace, not the government. Significantly, several private self- regulatory bodies have been established to address consumer privacy concerns.