BKBRDCYB.RVW   980116

"Borders in Cyberspace", Brian Kahin/Charles Nesson, 1997,
0-262-61126-0, U$25.00
%A   Brian Kahin
%A   Charles Nesson
%C   55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA   02142-1399
%D   1997
%G   0-262-61126-0
%I   MIT Press
%O   U$25.00 800-356-0343 fax: 617-625-6660 curtin@mit.edu
%O  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262611260/robsladesinterne
%P   374 p.
%T   "Borders in Cyberspace: Information Policy and the Global
         Information Infrastructure"

It is rare indeed to find a collection of essays on a popular topic
where each paper presents fresh insight, and all present a thorough
analysis.  However, Kahin and Nesson have managed to compile just such
a set.  Examining national and transnational issues and interests in
light of the emerging global information infrastructure, each piece is
informative and thought-provoking.

In part one, the essays concentrate on examining how a legal system
might function on the net.  In "The Rise of Law on the Global
Network," Johnson and Post jump completely away from the arguments
about which country's legal system, all of them based on geography,
should hold sway in cyberspace by suggesting that cyberspace is a
separate "place," and should thus have its own laws.  Volkmer examines
a number of, mostly journalistic, considerations regarding global
versus special interest in "Universalism and Particularism."  The
problem of law on the net is revisited by Reidenberg in "Governing
Networks and Rule-Making in Cyberspace, with specific emphasis on the
self-regulating nature of the Internet.  It has become almost a tenet
of faith that increased communication brings increased democracy:
faith, because hard data was unavailable.  In "The Third Waves,"
Kedzie presents and analyzes the statistics that prove the dogma rests
on a solid foundation.  In "The Internet as a Source of Regulatory
Arbitrage" Froomkin points out what the US government has yet to
learn: cyberspace in itself has the power to enable citizens of a
given jurisdiction to avoid arbitrary fiats.  However, the net is not
completely lawless, and in "Jurisdiction in Cyberspace:
Intermediaries" Perritt begins to investigate a model of a court or,
at least, an arbitration system.

Part two looks at issues of the conflict with geographic and political
borders.  Burk, in "The market for Digital Piracy," looks at the
network technologies that work against copyright law, and the various
economic models that might affect this struggle.  Freedom of speech
and the realities of moderate censorship are examined in "A Regulatory
Web: Free Speech and the GII" by Mayer-Schonberger and Foster. 
Gellman examines the varied outlooks on personal privacy in "Conflict
and Overlap in Privacy Regulation."  As has been amply demonstrated in
recent years, and as Barth and Smith point out in "International
Regulation of Encryption," attempts to control encryption technology
are fighting a loosing battle.  Governments, strapped for cash, are
now trying to make money off information they have collected and used
to disseminate freely.  In "International Information Policy in
Conflict," Weiss and Backlund look at the various interests involved. 
In "Netting the Cybershark" (wonderful pun, that), Goldring looks at
the slightly more personal topic of fraud and consumer protection in
cyberspace.

Legal minds, netizens, legislators, techies, and regulators will all
find something of interest here.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998   BKBRDCYB.RVW   980116