In reply to Marc Couture.

Hi Marc

Let me try and re-state it because I think I should have defined what I meant more precisely. A list is just a list, something becomes a black list dependent on not just how its put together but how it is used.

So a blacklist is a list of things you shouldn't use or touch. If you use something as a blacklist you are always at risk because something might not (yet) be listed. A blacklist is open conceptually but limited in practice. Imagine you work with an explosive material that combines badly with some other materials. If you rely on the blacklist you are at risk that something has been missed.

A whitelist by contrast is a list of things that are guaranteed to be able to safely use. It is closed conceptually as well as being limited in practice. You can rely on those materials that have been tested to not combine badly with your explosive material. The whitelist is safe in that sense. Of course it may be put together wrong but that's a separate issue.

The ethical problem with whitelists is that they are conservative in practice and tend to become discriminatory against new practice. DOAJ has been criticised for this, for being too strict and excluding valid experimentation for instance. The challenge with whitelists is that they only rarely match the precise thing you want to test for.

So "blacklist" isn't just the list itself but also the way it is relied on. If you are relying on an external agency to tell you what is dangerous you always risk that they've missed something new. If you rely on an external agency to tell you what is safe you will be safe, but possibly overly conservative compared to what you really want.

Does that make more sense?