Week 13
Regulation and Policy
Before going any further, follow this link to learn more about your final project and the final exam.
In the United States we've already seen how the CDA would regulate computer networks for indecency, if it survives a Supreme Court challenge. Singapore and China are actively seeking ways to limit access to the Internet. Why are governments starting to limit speech on the Internet? What barriers will they encounter? See the details in Worldwide, Internet Restrictions Are Growing, a New York Times article.
It is, says Jacques Chirac, a "major risk for humanity". AIDS? The bomb? Over-eating? No: what frightens the president of France is what the Internet may do to language, not least his own country's language. We've already acknowledged that this is, after all, a World Wide Web. A universal language can help with communication and presumably with understanding across cultures. But does it also undermine culture? And whose culture? The French have a point of view they have incorporated into national policy. It is the topic of an Economist article, The coming global tongue.
We read some about the law of cyberspace as it may pertain to indecency, privacy and security. But there are other largely unmapped territories as well. The law of cyberspace is a nascent frontier of the law. Issues such as copyright, trademark, privacy, and libel or defamation have been difficult enough to deal with up to now. The advent of digital storage and transmission and the Internet have opened up new areas for litigation. I have selected two final areas for consideration this semester.
First, in Copyright in Cyberspace , an important question is: How does copyright work with the free flow of information that is the Internet? This can be illustrated by very current piece of litigation. The issue currently being debated by lawyers, academicians, legislators and regulators in the United States and from Germany to Malaysia: whether a person or business on the Internet falls under the laws of some, all, or any of the jurisdictions from which that Internet site can be reached. Essentially, On the Internet, Whose Jurisdiction Is It?
Second, in Libel and Defamation in Cyberspace, consider how online multiplies the potential damage of a libel. It is possible to write a letter-to-the-editor claiming to be the executive of a trade association. Unless you stole or fabricated their letterhead, the editor might be suspicious. But at the moment it is easier to fake it with an e-mail. (How do I know it is you submitting e-mail to the Listserv and thje exams?) One feature of cyberspace that is troubling are the problems with identity. It is often easier in cyberspace to fake someone's identity, and therefore easier as well to steal someone's identity. If you steal someone's name, and then say things that harm him or her, we expect a court would find you liable.
The terms, costs and conditions for using the Internet are determined only in part on the real costs and the role of the marketplace. So long as there is a Congress and FCC (and state counterparts) we can expect continued policies that place or remove barriers to access. One issue that is current involves access fees. The headline say: Baby Bells Plan Fight to End Free Ride for Internet Users. Are Internet users getting a free ride from their local telephone companies? The Baby Bells say yes, and they want the Federal Communications Commission to do something about it. At issue are interstate access charges, a seemingly arcane set of telephone-call fees regulated by the FCC. The ISPs and others argue that the Bell operating companies have received a massive increase in revenue and profit from the sale of second lines to homes and don't need further rate increases for Internet access.
And finally, an update on a reading on convergence from earlier in the term. Microsoft announced that it was planning to add software to permit its Windows operating system to be used in a new hybrid computer-TV, called a PC-Theater, which computer makers -- including Compaq -- plan to produce within the next few months. See the latest in Microsoft Deal to Aid Blending of PCs, TVs and Internet
See this week's Ask Bob Q & A.
Assignment: Share with us. Have you ever make a tape from a record or CD borrowed from someone? Have you ever put software on a computer that you got from someone else (and wasn't freeware)? Have you ever photocopies extensive pages from a book (more than two chapters)? Dubbed a copy of a commercial video tape? Those are probably all violations of copyright.
Tell us what you've done, why you've done it. And most important, why you don't think this makes you a criminal. Now put on a new hat. You written a book, or created a computer game, or you've produced a film for theatrical release. Your earnings depend on the royalties earned on copies sold. How would you feel about copying? Why is copyright important to creativity?
07/18/97