(keitai-l) Re: NTT DoCoMo's "Foreigner Tax" Protest

From: Nick May <nick_at_kyushu.com>
Date: 06/18/02
Message-id: <fc.000f761000070c273b9aca00c962b646.70c28@kyushunet.com>
keitai-l@appelsiini.net writes:
>As they are a free enterprise, though, I don't believe we have a moral
>authority to force them to select this particular screening process or
>that 
>one --
>except by exerting pressure through our yen votes and where we decide to
>spend
>them.


Nope. The question is - is their screening process rationally based? Were
they to screen people on skin colour ("having a black skin" for example) I
believe the issue of discrimination by a market dominating company WOULD
be something we had the moral authority to oppose other than through our
"yen vote".  It is not clear that the "non permanent visa" criterion is
any more rational or reasonable. (And I therefore withhold judgement)

But the mere fact they are a "free" enterprise does not protect them in
principal. "Free" is in fact "very constrained" in a democracy, as it damn
well should be, given the intellectual property and contract law they get
in exchange.

All democracies function in part to protect the rights of minorities.

And so, distasteful as the UDF (?) are, and  disingenuous as their claim
it is a tax is, they ultimately have a point.

Nick
Received on Tue Jun 18 16:04:15 2002