Hey all,

I hope you're all on this discussion board email notification system.. So last time, we thought a bit about our goals for this paper, so that our individual intuitions about how the Internet "should" be remain somewhat validated when we're done with this paper.

So to get started on that idea, I wanted to post a few of the ideas I personally have about how the Internet should be. Please submit your own opinions in response!

First, and most importantly, the Internet emerged as an amazing way of exchanging ideas, communicating, etc... This should remain a main role of the Internet: the free exchange of ideas. If our solution somehow shifts societal norms, allows for the hyper-privatization and commercialization of the Internet, or simply legislates away this part of the Internet, I think we will have failed in some respect.

At the same time, our final proposal should allow commercial entities to enter the Internet for all the advantages that it offers, and with a certain amount of protection for their business, image, and private information.

Finally, users should feel safe on the Internet. In the beginning, everyone felt safe because there was no one with bad intentions online. Everyone collaborated to make the best of what they had. We can't expect to get back to this "care-free" sixties-like era. But we should attempt to combine the ideas of free exchange with a clear feeling of everyone's right to privacy being upheld.

More ideas coming later, but I would love to hear what you guys think first....

-- Anonymous, November 15, 1998

Answers

Based on the goal of maintaining the free exchange of ideas and information on the Internet, do you think that, for instance, unsolicited commercial email (spam) should be allowed to reach spaces tagged as 'private,' subject only to the user actively blocking such email. Since there is no zoning in cyberspace, just as with unsolicited phone calls, should spammers only be regulated moderately -- just as unsolicited commercial calls are subject to only time of day restrictions?

-- Anonymous, November 24, 1998