IP: Who'll rule cyberspace?

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 09:02:59 -0500 (EST)
> From: Dorothy Denning <denning () cs georgetown edu>
> Subject: Who'll rule cyberspace?
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
>
>
> PLUGGED IN
> Who'll rule cyberspace?
>
> New book explores the coming showdown between programmers and regulators
>
> By Simson L. Garfinkel, 11/18/99
>
> Two kinds of code regulate the Internet, Harvard Law School professor
> Lawrence Lessig writes in his first book, ''Code and Other Laws of
> Cyberspace.'' The first is embodied in computer programs. This is the actual
> code that creates Web browsers, Web servers, e-mail systems, and the rest of
> the Internet infrastructure. Lessig calls this ''West Coast Code,'' because
> it is written primarily on the West Coast of the United States in such
> places as Silicon Valley and Redmond, Wash.
>
> The second code, says Lessig, is one made up by lawmakers and regulators in
> countries where the Internet's computers reside. Not surprisingly, Lessig
> calls this ''East Coast Code,'' since much of the drafting takes place in
> Washington, D.C.
>
> Lessig's distinction between East and West is sure to ruffle feathers at MIT
> and Bell Labs, two great East Coast institutions that have been at the
> forefront of Lessig's so-called West Coast Code revolution. Nevertheless,
> the idea of dividing regulation into that which is accomplished by computer
> programs and that which is accomplished by law is a useful tool for those
> thinking about the nature of today's Internet and possible futures.
>
> Although the Internet is weakly regulated today, Lessig argues, it is sure
> to be well-regulated in the future. The primary reason for this push is
> electronic commerce. Many businesses rightly see the Internet as the
> ultimate tool for selling products, reaching new customers, and cutting the
> cost of distribution and support.
>
> But they also see the Internet as a threat - a place where customers can
> distribute stolen trade secrets, download pirated software, and even post
> attacks on corporations. Their reaction to these perceptions, says Lessig,
> will be to gradually remake cyberspace into a place more friendly to selling
> things and less friendly to individuals trying to act on their own.
>
> There are plenty of examples that support Lessig's thesis. One is the
> creeping use of unique personal identifiers, or serial numbers, on the
> Internet. Intel put a unique Processor Serial Number into each Pentium III
> microprocessor; Microsoft puts a unique Globally Unique Identifier into
> every document created by Microsoft Word; and Real Networks puts a GUID into
> its Real Audio Jukebox program. All these were designed to make it easier to
> track computers and people on the Internet. They produce accountability and
> destroy anonymity.
>
> There are other, more subtle ways corporations are regulating the future of
> our information space. Consider America Online, which tens of millions of
> Americans use to access the Internet. America Online is a world with
> particular rules. These rules aren't handed down by God or Congress.
> Instead, they are created by AOL's programmers.
>
> One rule in the world of AOL has to do with public assembly. AOL's
> president, Steve Case, can send an e-mail message to every AOL subscriber.
> But all others on the AOL system are denied this right. On other Internet
> chat services dozens or hundreds of people can interact at the same time.
> But AOL's chat rooms are limited to fewer than 30 people. AOL likes to think
> of itself as an electronic town, but it's different than most towns, because
> none of the citizens can vote. And it's a town where members will find it
> very hard to organize to effect social change.
>
> All this wouldn't matter so much if the Internet were not already an
> important part of our economy, and likely to become more so. The future of
> the Internet is the future of our world. If we make the Internet a highly
> regulated space where anonymity is an illusion and voting is nonexistent,
> this can't help but have an impact on the future of our real-space world.
>
> With this in mind, Lessig says it's time for East Coast Code to start
> exerting more control over West Coast Code. Decisions are being made that
> affect the future of the Internet and, by extension, the future of the
> world. Do we want these decisions being made by programmers and product
> managers, or by an open, political process?
>
> Lessig's argument is sure to stir controversy. These days the computer
> industry's predominant request to government is laissez-faire. And indeed,
> says Lessig, the initial attempts of the US government to regulate
> cyberspace haven't been too successful. The Communications Decency Act of
> 1996 was attacked by technologists and civil libertarians and ultimately
> struck down by the US Supreme Court.
>
> Most recently, the Clinton administration asked the Internet's Engineering
> Task Force to build provisions for wiretapping into the very TCP/IP
> protocols - the West Coast Code - that drive the Internet. So far the IETF
> has refused, arguing such perversions of its code will make the Internet
> less secure, and ultimately won't do much to help law enforcement.
>
> But Lessig reminds us that the alternative to no regulation by government
> is, instead, regulation by corporations.
>
> ''We stand on the edge of an era that demands we make fundamental choices
> about what life in this space, and therefore life in real-space, will be
> like,'' he writes. ''These choices will be made; there is no nature here to
> discover. And when they are made, the values we hold sacred will either
> influence our choices or be ignored.'' Lessig doesn't think government today
> is up to the task. But he hopes it may one day take its rightful place.
>
> Lessig's bias is obviously liberal, not libertarian. But even if you
> disagree with his politics, there are still a lot of stories and history
> that make this book an easy recommendation. ''Code and Other Laws of
> Cyberspace'' does a fabulous job pulling together the most important issues
> facing the Internet, from wiretapping and intellectual property protection
> to the battle between Microsoft and Linux. And with a wonderfully
> conversational style, the book is understandable by both nonlawyers and
> nonprogrammers - an impressive feat by itself.
>
> Technology columnist Simson Garfinkel can be reached at chat. simson.net.
>
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