EDITORIAL - All sound and fury, signifying nothing

Before the police raided a house in Lapu-Lapu City recently and uncovered what was clearly a clandestine cybersex operation, almost nobody here took up a concern that was clearly born with the Internet.

Now everybody is splitting hairs over cybersex, some going to the extent of trying to introduce legislation that would ban private rooms and cubicles inside Internet cafes even in the absence of any proof that cybersex takes place in these rooms and cubicles.

Pieces of legislation, in that they are meant to govern the conduct of life in a particular jurisdiction, must be crafted with practical, meaningful and beneficial consequences in mind.

The worst pieces of legislation are those that are thrown into the cauldron of life haphazardly, knee-jerk reactions to situations that are often mistaken by legislators as needing immediate responses when what is clearly demanded is prudent action.

The discovery of cybersex in our midst may have been sudden. But it does not follow that our response to it must be as quick. Just because you have a shotgun does not mean you can attack the whole of India with it.

There is always nothing wrong with pausing, with sitting back for a while and taking stock of the situation. A well-thought-of plan is always better in the long run than a quick and preemptive response that is deprived of a clear objective.

If even the mighty United States, the most powerful country in the world, is learning a very tough and painful lesson in Iraq because of the bull-headedness of its president, so will we if we continue to reject the invaluable benefits to be derived from prudence.

It is possible rooms in Internet cafes are used for cybersex. But until now, all we have is sound and fury that signify nothing. Without proof, no official action must be taken against private investments whose more open and beneficial uses have been clearly established and proven.