DISADVANTAGES — CONSUMER/INTERNET — KILLS THE INTERNET 425

DISADVANTAGE: PRIVACY PROTECTIONS KILL THE INTERNET�

A. INTERNET IS AT A CRUCIAL TURNING POINT IN ITS DEVELOPMENT

MARK SABLEMAN St. Louis Post-Dispatch March 12, 1999, SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. B7, TITLE: CAN WE KEEP NEW TECHNOLOGY AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS IN BALANCE? Web // acs-EE2001

The Internet stands today like radio in the late 1920s, television in the early 1950s, and even the printing press in the late 1400s - a nascent communications medium, bound to have tremendous impact on society, currently uncertain of the political and legal constructs that will bend the course of its development. We know, from experience, that technological developments aren't always linear and predictable.

B. POLICY DECISIONS LIKE PRIVACY WILL SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET

MARK SABLEMAN St. Louis Post-Dispatch March 12, 1999, SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. B7, TITLE: CAN WE KEEP NEW TECHNOLOGY AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS IN BALANCE? Web // acs-EE2001

As the Internet develops, we will inevitably make key choices and judgments, through laws, public policies and developing customs and practices, with respect to free speech, information rights, privacy and commercial interests. These policy decisions, as much as the technology itself, will lead to some unexpected twists and turns.

If, however, Internet policy is guided by sensitivity to unintended consequences, and commitment to the values of our Constitution, the surprises in how the Internet affects our lives may turn out to be good ones.

C. THE INTERNET CAN SOLVE THE PAST PROBLEMS OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

PAUL STARR, The American Prospect, March 27, 2000 - April 10, 2000; Pg. 30 TITLE: The Electronic Commons; THE PROMISE OF THE NEW PUBLIC DOMAIN // acs-VT2001

While the rise of electronic commerce excites visions of a new economy, the Internet continues to produce explosive growth in free, public communication. The sheer scale and variety of the electronic public domain are staggering, but the promise is not simply an information cornucopia. Despite all its problems, the Internet has the potential to remedy some historic defects of public communication. It has already begun to do so, and with additional capital and new forms of organization, it can do much more.