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Foucault in Cyberspace



In reading Boyle's article on the application of Foucault's ideas to
cyberspace, I find myself agreeing with him on the issue of filtering
software.  Site rating is a practice that, initiated by the public as a
means of saving their speech on the Internet, could be eventually
manipulated by government officials under different statutes.  For
example, there could be backlash against sites who refuse to rate their
content, or sites whose self-rating is less stringent than someone felt
it should be.  (This is dealt with in hypothetical and detail in a paper
called "Is Cyberspace Burning" at www.aclu.org)

This same argument can be applied to the enlistment of ISPs as the
state's private police.  By shifting liability onto their shoulders,
government can regulate content (an unconstitutional action) indirectly
by setting the rules to govern the ISPs.  But what happens if an ISP
refuses to go along with the regulations?  Blacklisting? Being shut
down?  Voila, here's your test case and we're back in the physical realm
once again with ISPs vying to be declared common carriers. 

So we've decided that government intervention in the workings of the Net
are unacceptable to most Netizens.  But any attempt by Netizens to
regulate themselves through technology will be turned on them, or so it
seems, in a sort of Orwellian fashion.  So where does that leave us?  I
don't quite know.  Perhaps the answer will lie in the metaphors the
Courts use to define the Internet in their opinions.  Is it broadcast
and thus subject to more stringent regulations?  Does it enjoy the
freedoms of print media since it is more accessible for response?  Or is
it more like a railroad and subject to the Commerce clause?)  Or perhaps
the answer lies in deeming the ISP a common carrier.  Wherever it is, I
would have to agree with Boyle that the answer lies between the two
extreme views presented in his article.

Hope this little reaction makes sense to someone beside me - I've been
reading so many court opinions tonight I have alphanumeric soup floating
around in my head.  I only hope no extra words or ideas got out.

Stephanie
-- 

Stephanie Lyn Beck	   "Spend your life loving and thinking - that
stephb@interpath.com	     is the true life of the spirit." 
					- Voltaire