AFFIRMATIVE-CONSUMER/INTERNET-SIGNIFICANCE 348

THINGS LOOK BLEAK FOR CONSUMER PRIVACY IN THE NEAR FUTURE

BLEAK FUTURE FOR PRIVACY AND FREE SPEECH ON THE INTERNET

Aaron Zitner, Globe Staff, The Boston Globe, March 19, 2000, SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. E1 TITLE: MONEY MATTERS; THE NET AT WHAT PRICE? HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR WARNS PRIVACY, FREE SPEECH BEING SACRIFICED FOR PROFIT // acs-VT2001

Now a 38-year-old Harvard law professor, Lessig has become one of the most prominent commentators on law and cyberspace, thanks to his academic writing, a column in the magazine The Industry Standard, and a new - and largely pessimistic - book about the future of privacy and free speech on the Internet.

THREATS OF PRIVACY FROM THE INTERNET WILL SNOWBALL IN THE YEARS TO COME

John J. Fried, The Ottawa Citizen, March 20, 2000, SECTION: High Tech Report; D3 TITLE: Privacy protection becoming a priority: A ubiquitous Internet threatens to snag more personal information // acs-VT2001

Internet privacy has joined the list of oxymorons. Whether we are talking about cookies -- files that report back to snoop on our surfing habits -- or about health-information Web sites leaking medical information submitted to them, the flow of private data into giant databases continues unabated.

And matters are only likely to get worse because our lives are sure to grow increasingly intertwined with the Internet.

In the next few years, more and more Americans will shop, undertake research, and conduct personal business online, even to the point -- if General Electric Co. and Microsoft Corp. are to be believed -- of enabling refrigerators to order groceries from online supermarkets.

THE REAL THREATS TO PRIVACY FROM THE INTERNET LIE IN THE NEAR FUTURE

Business Week, March 20, 2000 SECTION: COVER STORY; ONLINE PRIVACY; Number 3673; Pg. 82 TITLE: It's Time for Rules in Wonderland // acs-VT2001

GOLD RUSH. It will get worse. The tricks being played today are child's play compared with what's coming. Web sites that want to know you better will soon be able to track your movements on Web phones, palm devices, and video games, and parse the data with more subtle software. Online services can be layered with mounds of data about each person. Interactive TVs, for instance, have the potential to correlate the Web sites you visit at work with the ads you see at home in the evening.