Some Policy Issues on the Internet

1. Some Policy Issues on the Internet An Incomplete Collection of Issues that Policy Makers, Interest Groups, and Activists Care About and that Might Lend Themselves to Term Papers

2. Different Arenas for Different Issues • Congress • Executive Agencies (FCC) • State Government • Local Government • The Courts • International Regulatory “Regimes” • Corporate Self-Regulation • Private Citizen Action • Computer Scientists Writing Code

3. MARKET REGULATION Must ISPs be common carriers – Brand X Must local telephone companies be common carriers? for everything? (USTA v. FCC) What is fair competition between telecoms and cable etc.? Incentives for convergence (digital spectrum uses) Should cable companies be forced to open pipes to any ISPs? Should communities be allowed to require this as condition of service? (Now they aren’t: cable modem service = information service, not “communication service”) What rules should regulate commercial use of Internet? (CAN-SPAM Act e.g.) What regulatory framework should be used for VoIP communications? Should states be permitted to tax e-commerce? How should government allocate rights to the broadcast spectrum – priorities and process?

4. Intellectual Property • Is file-sharing technology inherently illegal? – Grokster case • What is “fair use”? (Digital Media Consumers Rights Act HR1201) • Should Google’s digital library fall under “fair use” protections? • Is it appropriate to require electronics firms to build protections into hardware (e.g. “broadcast flag” regimes)? • What role for compulsory licensing (e.g. ASCAP, etc.)? • Can the Internet protect the cultural heritage? – “orphaned” works? • Can the Internet enhance cultural heritage because of the “long tail”? • Should the U.S. endorse the World Intellectual Property Organization treaty • That would extend more rights to broadcasters? • Who owns player-created materials produced under licenses from on-line-multiplayer-game makers?

5. Equality and Access • digital divide: individuals • extent of and trends in digital divide • Universal broadband – federal initiative (no taxes, right of way, power lines spectrum for wireless) (Pres Bush: goal by 2007) HR144, 146; S14, 497 502. • should cities be allowed to provide wireless? • should feds pay for broadband in remote communities – E-rate program? • digital divide: communities – the schools and libraries program • digital divide: countries – north/south divide

6. Security • spyware, identity theft, spam, phishing – what can government do (HR29, HR744, S687 re spyware) • use of the Internet by terrorists to coordinate activities • vulnerability to cyber attacks of critical infrastructure (denial of service attacks – 13 root DSN servers at base of system) • vulnerability of network reliant systems: banking, transportation, electrical power • should government restrict encryption technologies?

7. Privacy • What info should government be allowed to demand (and with what legal requirements) from ISPs & libraries? (current debate re: “sunset” provisions of Patriot Act due to expire at end of 2005) • what data should the government be permitted to aggregate and store about us, and how should they be allowed to use it? • what is the appropriate role of data-mining in national security (Carnivore etc) • corporate surveillance of consumers • corporate surveillance of employees – should they be required to warn employees • what should entities that hold information be required to do to preserve its integrity, and what penalties should be exacted on those that fail? (HR 1069, HR1080, HR1263, S500) • what should government require of system (e.g. P3P software so that users can automatically match preferences to policies of websites) • should government regulate spyware? (HR29, HR744, S687) • ISPS – should ISPS be permitted to intercept and read subscribers’ messages for Business purposes? (U.S. v. Councilman Aug – on appeal they can’t)

8. Freedom of Expression • Should government be permitted to prosecute web sites that don’t remove “offensive” content? (Utah HB 260) • Should government be permitted to compel ISPs to block web sites if the technology would lead to ancillary censorship of innocent sites • How should government act to protect children from pornography? Violence? Internet addiction? • Is it appropriate to hold ISPs accountable for content, or should they be classified as “common carriers” (information service v. communications service) • Should libraries be required by government to have filters on computers, and to block websites with “obscene” material – what if filters also block ok material? • How should the law balance trademark and intellectual property rights against free expression rights?

9. Transborder Issues • Role of international standards orgs (e.g. domain name system) and U.S. role in them (ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers – 1998) – should these be private or intergovernmental? • Should “cybersquatting” and “cyberpiracy” continue to be illegal? • Liability of ISPs under diverse national laws • Should U.S. e-commerce companies have to comply with EU privacy safeguards?

10. Issues Related to Blogging • Defamation • Trade Secrets • Employee blogs • Intellectual property • Ethics • Good manners

11. E-Government • its relation to street-level government • should government use open-source and, if so, how? • Should government sites be accessible from all browsers? • What information should governments have to post on-line?