This would seem to be a rather silly idea, almost as silly as what Jimmy Wales is wearing in the accompanying photo.
By all means, have the debate, but what on Earth will it achieve?
I can’t help but suspect that it’s on its way though, and certain forces of darkness will embrace it with open arms. No doubt certain major blogs will be tempted to adopt a policy of only linking to other blogs that carry the code logo and people who have never particularly had much of a problem (I include myself in this) will suddenly find themselves having to conform or face needless censorship.
Do we really need yet another moral panic? I thought these web 2.0 fellas were more sensible than that.
Up until relatively recently, there was a time when the this logo was on every major comic published in the US. It was a laughable act of self-censorship that reduced the medium to kiddy superheroics and set it back literally decades. This being the internet, everything happens much faster and is harder to control, but people should be wary of the fascist hive mindset that lies behind it.
What could better represent an idea that democratic and participatory on the surface, but totalitarian underneath, than wikipedia and Jimbo Wales?