It was submitted before (~600 days ago):

https://hackernews.hn/item?id=7354

https://hackernews.hn/item?id=24992

https://hackernews.hn/item?id=122189

I find it to be relevant to the recent discussions on HN.

Here's a summary of the essay by Jon Stahl http://blogs.onenw.org/jon/archives/2003/10/21/a-group-is-it...