Planning A Global Human Cyberspace
The Second NCLS Conference On Legal, Ethical, and
Technological Aspects of Computer Network Use and Abuse
By Fintan R. Steele
Of the many worlds of the future imagined by the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov the two most disturbing are
Sayshell and Earth. These two planets, homes to the oldest and the newest human communities, are at the
extremes of both the galaxy and human social order.
Asimov's futuristic Earth is a massively overcrowded planet where society is held in place by strict -- and
strictly enforced -- rules and customs. Though living in a technological cocoon -- a series of caves
throughout the surface of Earth -- the people of Earth generally shun any technical advances that might
upset the precarious balance of their society. Anonymity, defined as not being known to Earth
government officialdom, exists only for the Earth man or woman who goes through life without drawing
any attention to herself or himself by word or deed.
At the other end of the galaxy, the people of Sayshell, descendants of Earth settlers from the Great Age of
Space Exploration, live in unimaginable freedom. Each Sayshellian has surrounded himself or herself
with abundant land, capable of maintaining an existence independent from any outsider, including other
Sayshellians. When a Sayshellian is forced to communicate directly with another human being -- a
prospect known to make some Sayshellians sick to their stomachs -- it is always done through impersonal,
technological means. Yet random, anonymous communication is a cornerstone of Sayshellian life,
considered a form of self-expression for which there is no accountability.
The Sayshellians and the Earth-dwellers represent two extremes in the Asimovian universe, but as faithful
readers of Asimov know, his creations are often based on what he deduces are the inevitable outcome of
technology-driven trends in contemporary human society. Asimov created the contrasting worlds of
Sayshell and Earth -- both of which ultimately fail -- as moral lessons, hoping that his readers will
recognize the trends in their own world and try to construct a new order that steers a course between the
extremes of either.
A new global community is emerging now due to tremendous advances in technology in this last quarter
of the twentieth century. The Internet, once the electronic communication playground of scientists and
computer experts, has continued to push at its envelope, incorporating new technologies and users,
becoming identified with -- but not necessarily identical to -- the National Information Infrastructure
(NII), and ultimately with an emerging Global Information Infrastructure (GII). But the appearance of
this new place of human habitation, so-called "cyberspace," raises questions even Isaac Asimov did not
imagine, but which have to be resolved if the GII is to serve a meaningful and positive role in human
affairs.
What is the nature of this emerging global information infrastructure? Analogies limp more noticeably
than usual in attempting to describe the growing web spreading across the planet. "Is it like a martini,
with all the parts blending perfectly together," asks George
Trubow of the John Marshall Law School in Chicago,
"or is it more like a jigsaw puzzle, with all the parts coming together to make something else, yet each
retaining its separate identity?"
Many
argue that the emerging structure is simply another community. If so, it appears
a loose knit, faceless community unlike any seen before in humanity's short
history. Others believe it is merely a tool that reflects the whims for good
or bad of the individuals wielding it. Yet there are stories of destructive
as well as noble behavior in the growing oral tradition of the Internet -- and
the differences between the two cannot be accounted for solely by the temperament
of the users involved.
Regardless of how one tries to conceptualize something as amorphous as cyberspace, there is growing
concern that some of its explorers may be getting out of control, and some kind of intervention is required
not only to deal with present difficulties, but to try to anticipate and prevent future problems. Many of
those concerned also want to put into place a structure that can enable full use of the exciting possibilities
offered by the emerging technology. The National Conference of
Lawyers and Scientists (NCLS), a joint venture of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the
American Bar Association's (ABA)
Section of Science and Technology, has been trying to confront the issues raised by the new
technology and provide useful, practical guidelines for dealing with them. A conference held December
17-19, 1993, in Irvine, California, involving 42 experts from industry, government, and private
institutions, identified areas of concern in shaping the future of cyberspace. As a result of this meeting
three policy issues were identified for further discussion at a subsequent conference, held in Queenstown,
Maryland, October 7-9, 1994. This paper is a result of that latter conference, summarizing some of the
main points discussed there.
The paper mirrors the meeting format, which in turn was organized around the three policy issues
identified at the Irvine meeting:
- Defining and attributing accountability/liability for the content of networked communications.
- Defining what is "public" and what is "private" on computer networks.
- Determining the kinds of ethical, legal, and administrative frameworks that should be constructed for
the global information infrastructure.
In addition to highlights from the opening and closing plenary sessions, this essay includes quotes from
participants relating to each of the three themes, which either served to focus the group on specific issues
or seemed to capture the general inclination of the participants on a given issue. It is not intended as a
complete transcript or consensus document, but rather it is an attempt to pull out of two days of interesting
and complicated discussion points that may be useful in defining the legal and ethical context of the
global information infrastructure.
Although they came from widely-differing perspectives, it was clear that all
the participants were committed to making cyberspace a place for humanity to
dwell. This is demonstrated here by most of the quotations chosen, as well as
by the general summaries presented by AAAS staff at the end of each of the three thematic sections.
The intent is not to give a comprehensive summary of each discussion, but rather
its flavor, followed in each section by the AAAS staff summary of points made.
It should be noted that there are some ambiguities in the terms "cyberspace," "national information
infrastructure (NII)," and "global information infrastructure (GII)." Many of the participants in the
meeting used these terms, as well as "the Internet," more or less interchangeably. We have tried to be
more precise in our usage in this report, as were some participants. "The Internet," refers to the existing
set of interconnected networks known commonly by that designation. The "NII" is used to describe the
future "information superhighway" that might incorporate the Internet as well as a wide range of other
networks and media and that is currently under discussion and in the planning stage. The "GII" refers to
the worldwide extension of this information superhighway that seems likely to develop, while
"cyberspace" is used in its more general sense as the "place" -- i.e., the virtual location -- where computer-
mediated communication occurs.
