Some Eurocrats suggest that the philosophical gap reflects the American constitutional tradition that everything is allowed unless it is forbidden, against the Napoleonic tradition codifying what the state allows and banning everything else.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

He advises taking a conservative approach with a policy that says all information is banned from a Web site except that which is explicitly allowed, rather than one that allows everything except that which is explicitly banned.

CNN: Does your Web site reveal too much?

The purpose of a firewall is to establish a positive enforcement model, i.e. limit traffic between networks of different trust levels to that which is allowed and block everything else.

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Regulations govern everything from how much jelly is in a doughnut to the number of matches allowed in a box.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

So most fishermen release everything they catch, though several regulars said they had seen some fishermen collect more than is allowed and try to sell them in Chinatown.

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