Lex 8256: The Law in
Cyberspace Seminar
excerpts from the district court's opinion in ACLU v. Reno, 929 F. Supp. 824 (E.D
Pa. 1996), aff'd, 521 U.S.
844 (1997):
The Nature of Cyberspace
The Creation of the Internet and the Development of Cyberspace
1. The Internet is not a physical or tangible entity, but rather a
giant network which interconnects innumerable smaller groups of linked
computer networks. It is thus a network of networks. This is best
understood if one considers what a linked group of computers --
referred to here as a "network" -is, and what it does. Small networks
are now ubiquitous (and are often called "local area networks").
For example, in many United States Courthouses, computers are linked to
each other for the purpose of exchanging files and messages (and to
share equipment such as printers). These are networks.
2. Some networks are "closed" networks, not linked to other computers
or networks. Many networks, however, are connected to other networks,
which are in turn connected to other networks in a manner which permits
each computer in any network to communicate with computers on any other
network in the system. This global Web of linked networks and computers
is referred to as the Internet.
3. The nature of the Internet is such that it is very difficult, if not
impossible, to determine its size at a given moment. It is
indisputable, however, that the Internet has experienced extraordinary
growth in recent years. In 1981, fewer than 300 computers were linked
to the Internet, and by 1989, the number stood at fewer than 90,000
computers. By 1993, over 1,000,000 computers were linked. Today, over
9,400,000 host computers worldwide, of which approximately 60 percent
located within the United States, are estimated to be linked to the
Internet. This count does not include the personal computers people use
to access the Internet using modems. In all, reasonable estimates are
that as many as 40 million people around the world can and do access
the enormously flexible communication Internet medium. That figure is
expected to grow to 200 million Internet users by the year 1999.
4. Some of the computers and computer networks that make up the
Internet are owned by governmental and public institutions, some are
owned by non-profit organizations, and some are privately owned. The
resulting whole is a decentralized, global medium of communications --
or "cyberspace" -- that links people, institutions, corporations, and
governments around the world. The Internet is an international system.
This communications medium allows any of the literally tens of millions
of people with access to the Internet to exchange information. These
communications can occur almost instantaneously, and can be directed
either to specific individuals, to a broader group of people interested
in a particular subject, or to the world as a whole.
5. The Internet had its origins in 1969 as an experimental project of
the Advanced Research Project Agency ("ARPA"), and was called ARPANET.
This network linked computers and computer networks owned by the
military, defense contractors, and university laboratories conducting
defense-related research. The network later allowed researchers across
the country to access directly and to use extremely powerful
supercomputers located at a few key universities and laboratories. As
it evolved far beyond its research origins in the United States to
encompass universities, corporations, and people around the world, the
ARPANET came to be called the "DARPA Internet," and finally just the
"Internet."
6. From its inception, the network was designed to be a decentralized,
self-maintaining series of redundant links between computers and
computer networks, capable of rapidly transmitting communications
without direct human involvement or control, and with the automatic
ability to re-route communications if one or more individual links were
damaged or otherwise unavailable. Among other goals, this redundant
system of linked computers was designed to allow vital research and
communications to continue even if portions of the network were
damaged, say, in a war.
7. To achieve this resilient nationwide (and ultimately global)
communications medium, the ARPANET encouraged the creation of multiple
links to and from each computer (or computer network) on the network.
Thus, a computer located in Washington, D.C., might be linked (usually
using dedicated telephone lines) to other computers in neighboring
states or on the Eastern seaboard. Each of those computers could in
turn be linked to other computers, which themselves would be linked to
other computers.
8. A communication sent over this redundant series of linked computers
could travel any of a number of routes to its destination. Thus, a
message sent from a computer in Washington, D.C., to a computer in Palo
Alto, California, might first be sent to a computer in Philadelphia,
and then be forwarded to a computer in Pittsburgh, and then to Chicago,
Denver, and Salt Lake City, before finally reaching Palo Alto. If the
message could not travel along that path (because of military attack,
simple technical malfunction, or other reason), the message would
automatically (without human intervention or even knowledge) be
re-routed, perhaps, from Washington, D.C. to Richmond, and then to
Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, and finally to
Palo Alto. This type of transmission, and re-routing, would likely
occur in a matter of seconds.
9. Messages between computers on the Internet do not necessarily travel
entirely along the same path. The Internet uses "packet switching"
communication protocols that allow individual messages to be subdivided
into smaller "packets" that are then sent independently to the
destination, and are then automatically reassembled by the receiving
computer. While all packets of a given message often travel along the
same path to the destination, if computers along the route become
overloaded, then packets can be re-routed to less loaded computers.
10. At the same time that ARPANET was maturing (it subsequently ceased
to exist), similar networks developed to link universities, research
facilities, businesses, and individuals around the world. These other
formal or loose networks included BITNET, CSNET, FIDONET, and USENET.
Eventually, each of these networks (many of which overlapped) were
themselves linked together, allowing users of any computers linked to
any one of the networks to transmit communications to users of
computers on other networks. It is this series of linked networks
(themselves linking computers and computer networks) that is today
commonly known as the Internet.
11. No single entity -- academic, corporate, governmental, or
non-profit -- administers the Internet. It exists and functions as a
result of the fact that hundreds of thousands of separate operators of
computers and computer networks independently decided to use common
data transfer protocols to exchange communications and information with
other computers (which in turn exchange communications and information
with still other computers). There is no centralized storage location,
control point, or communications channel for the Internet, and it would
not be technically feasible for a single entity to control all of the
information conveyed on the Internet.
How Individuals Access the Internet
12. Individuals have a wide variety of avenues to access cyberspace in
general, and the Internet in particular. In terms of physical access,
there are two common methods to establish an actual link to the
Internet. First, one can use a computer or computer terminal that is
directly (and usually permanently) connected to a computer network that
is itself directly or indirectly connected to the Internet. Second, one
can use a "personal computer" with a "modem" to connect over a
telephone line to a larger computer or computer network that is itself
directly or indirectly connected to the Internet. As detailed below,
both direct and modem connections are made available to people by a
wide variety of academic, governmental, or commercial entities.
13. Students, faculty, researchers, and others affiliated with the vast
majority of colleges and universities in the United States can access
the Internet through their educational institutions. Such access is
often via direct connection using computers located in campus
libraries, offices, or computer centers, or may be through telephone
access using a modem from a student's or professor's campus or
off-campus location. Some colleges and universities install "ports" or
outlets for direct network connections in each dormitory room or
provide access via computers located in common areas in dormitories.
Such access enables students and professors to use information and
content provided by the college or university itself, and to use the
vast amount of research resources and other information available on
the Internet worldwide.
14. Similarly, Internet resources and access are sufficiently important
to many corporations and other employers that those employers link
their office computer networks to the Internet and provide employees
with direct or modem access to the office network (and thus to the
Internet). Such access might be used by, for example, a corporation
involved in scientific or medical research or manufacturing to enable
corporate employees to exchange information and ideas with academic
researchers in their fields.
15. Those who lack access to the Internet through their schools or
employers still have a variety of ways they can access the Internet.
Many communities across the country have established "free-nets" or
community networks to provide their citizens with a local link to the
Internet (and to provide local-oriented content and discussion groups).
The first such community network, the Cleveland Free-Net Community
Computer System, was established in 1986, and free-nets now exist in
scores of communities as diverse as Richmond, Virginia, Tallahassee,
Florida, Seattle, Washington, and San Diego, California. Individuals
typically can access free-nets at little or no cost via modem
connection or by using computers available in community buildings.
Free-nets are often operated by a local library, educational
institution, or non-profit community group.
16. Individuals can also access the Internet through many local
libraries. Libraries often offer patrons use of computers that are
linked to the Internet. In addition, some libraries offer telephone
modem access to the libraries' computers, which are themselves
connected to the Internet. Increasingly, patrons now use library
services and resources without ever physically entering the library
itself. Libraries typically provide such direct or modem access at no
cost to the individual user.
17. Individuals can also access the Internet by patronizing an
increasing number of storefront "computer coffee shops," where
customers -- while they drink their coffee -- can use computers
provided by the shop to access the Internet. Such Internet access
is typically provided by the shop for a small hourly fee.
18. Individuals can also access the Internet through commercial and
non-commercial "Internet service providers" that typically offer modem
telephone access to a computer or computer network linked to the
Internet. Many such providers -- including the members of plaintiff
Commercial Internet Exchange Association -- are commercial entities
offering Internet access for a monthly or hourly fee. Some Internet
service providers, however, are non-profit organizations that offer
free or very low cost access to the Internet. For example, the
International Internet Association offers free modem access to the
Internet upon request. Also, a number of trade or other non-profit
associations offer Internet access as a service to members.
19. Another common way for individuals to access the Internet is
through one of the major national commercial "online services" such as
America Online, CompuServe, the Microsoft Network, or Prodigy. These
online services offer nationwide computer networks (so that subscribers
can dial-in to a local telephone number), and the services provide
extensive and well organized content within their own proprietary
computer networks. In addition to allowing access to the extensive
content available within each online service, the services also allow
subscribers to link to the much larger resources of the Internet. Full
access to the online service (including access to the Internet) can be
obtained for modest monthly or hourly fees. The major commercial online
services have almost twelve million individual subscribers across the
United States.
20. In addition to using the national commercial online services,
individuals can also access the Internet using some (but not all) of
the thousands of local dial-in computer services, often called
"bulletin board systems" or "BBSs." With an investment of as little as
$ 2,000.00 and the cost of a telephone line, individuals, non-profit
organizations, advocacy groups, and businesses can offer their own
dial-in computer "bulletin board" service where friends, members,
subscribers, or customers can exchange ideas and information. BBSs
range from single computers with only one telephone line into the
computer (allowing only one user at a time), to single computers with
many telephone lines into the computer (allowing multiple simultaneous
users), to multiple linked computers each servicing multiple dial-in
telephone lines (allowing multiple simultaneous users). Some (but not
all) of these BBS systems offer direct or indirect links to the
Internet. Some BBS systems charge users a nominal fee for access, while
many others are free to the individual users.
21. Although commercial access to the Internet is growing rapidly, many
users of the Internet -- such as college students and staff -- do not
individually pay for access (except to the extent, for example, that
the cost of computer services is a component of college tuition). These
and other Internet users can access the Internet without paying for
such access with a credit card or other form of payment.
Methods to Communicate Over the Internet
22. Once one has access to the Internet, there are a wide variety of
different methods of communication and information exchange over the
network. These many methods of communication and information retrieval
are constantly evolving and are therefore difficult to categorize
concisely. The most common methods of communications on the Internet
(as well as within the major online services) can be roughly grouped
into six categories:
(1) one-to-one messaging (such as "e-mail"),
(2) one-to-many messaging (such as "listserv"),
(3) distributed message databases (such as "USENET
newsgroups"),
(4) real time communication (such as "Internet Relay
Chat"),
(5) real time remote computer utilization (such as
"telnet"), and
(6) remote information retrieval (such as "ftp,"
"gopher," and the "World Wide Web").
Most of these methods of communication can be used to transmit text,
data, computer programs, sound, visual images (i.e., pictures), and
moving video images.
23. One-to-one messaging. One method of communication on the Internet
is via electronic mail, or "e-mail," comparable in principle to sending
a first class letter. One can address and transmit a message to one or
more other people. E-mail on the Internet is not routed through a
central control point, and can take many and varying paths to the
recipients. Unlike postal mail, simple e-mail generally is not "sealed"
or secure, and can be accessed or viewed on intermediate computers
between the sender and recipient (unless the message is encrypted).
24. One-to-many messaging. The Internet also contains automatic mailing
list services (such as "listservs"), [also referred to by witnesses as
"mail exploders"] that allow communications about particular subjects
of interest to a group of people. For example, people can subscribe to
a "listserv" mailing list on a particular topic of interest to them.
The subscriber can submit messages on the topic to the listserv that
are forwarded (via e-mail), either automatically or through a human
moderator overseeing the listserv, to anyone who has subscribed to the
mailing list. A recipient of such a message can reply to the message
and have the reply also distributed to everyone on the mailing list.
This service provides the capability to keep abreast of developments or
events in a particular subject area. Most listserv-type mailing lists
automatically forward all incoming messages to all mailing list
subscribers. There are thousands of such mailing list services on the
Internet, collectively with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Users
of "open" listservs typically can add or remove their names from the
mailing list automatically, with no direct human involvement. Listservs
may also be "closed," i.e., only allowing for one's acceptance into the
listserv by a human moderator.
25. Distributed message databases. Similar in function to listservs --
but quite different in how communications are transmitted -- are
distributed message databases such as "USENET newsgroups."
User-sponsored newsgroups are among the most popular and widespread
applications of Internet services, and cover all imaginable topics of
interest to users. Like listservs, newsgroups are open discussions and
exchanges on particular topics. Users, however, need not subscribe to
the discussion mailing list in advance, but can instead access the
database at any time. Some USENET newsgroups are "moderated" but most
are open access. For the moderated newsgroups, all messages to the
newsgroup are forwarded to one person who can screen them for relevance
to the topics under discussion. USENET newsgroups are disseminated
using ad hoc, peer to peer connections between approximately 200,000
computers (called USENET "servers") around the world. For unmoderated
newsgroups, when an individual user with access to a USENET server
posts a message to a newsgroup, the message is automatically forwarded
to all adjacent USENET servers that furnish access to the newsgroup,
and it is then propagated to the servers adjacent to those servers,
etc. The messages are temporarily stored on each receiving server,
where they are available for review and response by individual users.
The messages are automatically and periodically purged from each system
after a time to make room for new messages. Responses to messages, like
the original messages, are automatically distributed to all other
computers receiving the newsgroup or forwarded to a moderator in the
case of a moderated newsgroup. The dissemination of messages to USENET
servers around the world is an automated process that does not require
direct human intervention or review.
26. There are newsgroups on more than fifteen thousand different
subjects. In 1994, approximately 70,000 messages were posted to
newsgroups each day, and those messages were distributed to the
approximately 190,000 computers or computer networks that participate
in the USENET newsgroup system. Once the messages reach the
approximately 190,000 receiving computers or computer networks, they
are available to individual users of those computers or computer
networks. Collectively, almost 100,000 new messages (or "articles") are
posted to newsgroups each day.
27. Real time communication. In addition to transmitting messages that
can be later read or accessed, individuals on the Internet can engage
in an immediate dialog, in "real time", with other people on the
Internet. In its simplest forms, "talk" allows one-to-one
communications and "Internet Relay Chat" (or IRC) allows two or more to
type messages to each other that almost immediately appear on the
others' computer screens. IRC is analogous to a telephone party line,
using a computer and keyboard rather than a telephone. With IRC,
however, at any one time there are thousands of different party lines
available, in which collectively tens of thousands of users are
engaging in conversations on a huge range of subjects. Moreover, one
can create a new party line to discuss a different topic at any time.
Some IRC conversations are "moderated" or include "channel operators."
28. In addition, commercial online services such as America Online,
CompuServe, the Microsoft Network, and Prodigy have their own "chat"
systems allowing their members to converse.
29. Real time remote computer utilization. Another method to use
information on the Internet is to access and control remote computers
in "real time" using "telnet." For example, using telnet, a researcher
at a university would be able to use the computing power of a
supercomputer located at a different university. A student can use
telnet to connect to a remote library to access the library's online
card catalog program.
30. Remote information retrieval. The final major category of
communication may be the most well known use of the Internet -- the
search for and retrieval of information located on remote computers.
There are three primary methods to locate and retrieve information on
the Internet.
31. A simple method uses "ftp" (or file transfer protocol) to list the
names of computer files available on a remote computer, and to transfer
one or more of those files to an individual's local computer.
32. Another approach uses a program and format named "gopher" to guide
an individual's search through the resources available on a remote
computer.
The World Wide Web
33. A third approach, and fast becoming the most well-known on the
Internet, is the "World Wide Web." The Web utilizes a "hypertext"
formatting language called hypertext markup language (HTML), and
programs that "browse" the Web can display HTML documents containing
text, images, sound, animation and moving video. Any HTML document can
include links to other types of information or resources, so that while
viewing an HTML document that, for example, describes resources
available on the Internet, one can "click" using a computer mouse on
the description of the resource and be immediately connected to the
resource itself. Such "hyperlinks" allow information to be accessed and
organized in very flexible ways, and allow people to locate and
efficiently view related information even if the information is stored
on numerous computers all around the world.
34. Purpose. The World Wide Web (W3C) was created to serve as the
platform for a global, online store of knowledge, containing
information from a diversity of sources and accessible to Internet
users around the world. Though information on the Web is contained in
individual computers, the fact that each of these computers is
connected to the Internet through W3C protocols allows all of the
information to become part of a single body of knowledge. It is
currently the most advanced information system developed on the
Internet, and embraces within its data model most information in
previous networked information systems such as ftp, gopher, wais, and
Usenet.
35. History. W3C was originally developed at CERN, the European
Particle Physics Laboratory, and was initially used to allow
information sharing within internationally dispersed teams of
researchers and engineers. Originally aimed at the High Energy Physics
community, it has spread to other areas and attracted much interest in
user support, resource recovery, and many other areas which depend on
collaborative and information sharing. The Web has extended beyond the
scientific and academic community to include communications by
individuals, non-profit organizations, and businesses.
36. Basic Operation. The World Wide Web is a series of documents stored
in different computers all over the Internet. Documents contain
information stored in a variety of formats, including text, still
images, sounds, and video. An essential element of the Web is that any
document has an address (rather like a telephone number). Most Web
documents contain "links." These are short sections of text or image
which refer to another document. Typically the linked text is blue or
underlined when displayed, and when selected by the user, the
referenced document is automatically displayed, wherever in the world
it actually is stored. Links for example are used to lead from overview
documents to more detailed documents, from tables of contents to
particular pages, but also as cross-references, footnotes, and new
forms of information structure.
37. Many organizations now have "home pages" on the Web. These are
documents which provide a set of links designed to represent the
organization, and through links from the home page, guide the user
directly or indirectly to information about or relevant to that
organization.
38. As an example of the use of links, if these Findings were to be put
on a World Wide Web site, its home page might contain links such as
those:
* THE NATURE OF CYBERSPACE
* CREATION OF THE INTERNET AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CYBERSPACE
* HOW PEOPLE ACCESS THE INTERNET
* METHODS TO COMMUNICATE OVER THE INTERNET
39. Each of these links takes the user of the site from the beginning
of the Findings to the appropriate section within this Adjudication.
Links may also take the user from the original Web site to another Web
site on another computer connected to the Internet. These links from
one computer to another, from one document to another across the
[Internet, are what unify the Web into a single body of knowledge, and
what makes the Web unique. The Web was designed with a maximum target
time to follow a link of one tenth of a second.
40. Publishing. The World Wide Web exists fundamentally as a platform
through which people and organizations can communicate through shared
information. When information is made available, it is said to be
"published" on the Web. Publishing on the Web simply requires that the
"publisher" has a computer connected to the Internet and that the
computer is running W3C server software. The computer can be as simple
as a small personal computer costing less than $ 1500 dollars or as
complex as a multi-million dollar mainframe computer. Many Web
publishers choose instead to lease disk storage space from someone else
who has the necessary computer facilities, eliminating the need for
actually owning any equipment oneself.
41. The Web, as a universe of network accessible information, contains
a variety of documents prepared with quite varying degrees of care,
from the hastily typed idea, to the professionally executed corporate
profile. The power of the Web stems from the ability of a link to point
to any document, regardless of its status or physical location.
42. Information to be published on the Web must also be formatted
according to the rules of the Web standards. These standardized formats
assure that all Web users who want to read the material will be able to
view it. Web standards are sophisticated and flexible enough that they
have grown to meet the publishing needs of many large corporations,
banks, brokerage houses, newspapers and magazines which now publish
"online" editions of their material, as well as government agencies,
and even courts, which use the Web to disseminate information to the
public. At the same time, Web publishing is simple enough that
thousands of individual users and small community organizations are
using the Web to publish their own personal "home pages," the
equivalent of individualized newsletters about that person or
organization, which are available to everyone on the Web.
43. Web publishers have a choice to make their Web sites open to the
general pool of all Internet users, or close them, thus making the
information accessible only to those with advance authorization. Many
publishers choose to keep their sites open to all in order to give
their information the widest potential audience. In the event that the
publishers choose to maintain restrictions on access, this may be
accomplished by assigning specific user names and passwords as a
prerequisite to access to the site. Or, in the case of Web sites
maintained for internal use of one organization, access will only be
allowed from other computers within that organization's local network.
44. Searching the Web. A variety of systems have developed that
allow users of the Web to search particular information among all of
the public sites that are part of the Web. Services such as Yahoo,
Magellan, Altavista, Webcrawler, and Lycos are all services known as
"search engines" which allow users to search for Web sites that contain
certain categories of information, or to search for key words. For
example, a Web user looking for the text of Supreme Court opinions
would type the words "Supreme Court" into a search engine, and then be
presented with a list of World Wide Web sites that contain Supreme
Court information. This list would actually be a series of links to
those sites. Having searched out a number of sites that might contain
the desired information, the user would then follow individual links,
browsing through the information on each site, until the desired
material is found. For many content providers on the Web, the ability
to be found by these search engines is very important.
45. Common standards. The Web links together disparate information on
an ever-growing number of Internet-linked computers by setting common
information storage formats (HTML) and a common language for the
exchange of Web documents (HTTP).] Although the information
itself may be in many different formats, and stored on computers which
are not otherwise compatible, the basic Web standards provide a basic
set of standards which allow communication and exchange of information.
Despite the fact that many types of computers are used on the Web, and
the fact that many of these machines are otherwise incompatible, those
who "publish" information on the Web are able to communicate with those
who seek to access information with little difficulty because of these
basic technical standards.
46. A distributed system with no centralized control. Running on tens
of thousands of individual computers on the Internet, the Web is what
is known as a distributed system. The Web was designed so that
organizations with computers containing information can become part of
the Web simply by attaching their computers to the Internet and running
appropriate World Wide Web software. No single organization controls
any membership in the Web, nor is there any single centralized point
from which individual Web sites or services can be blocked from the
Web. From a user's perspective, it may appear to be a single,
integrated system, but in reality it has no centralized control point.
47. Contrast to closed databases. The Web's open, distributed,
decentralized nature stands in sharp contrast to most information
systems that have come before it. Private information services such as
Westlaw, Lexis/Nexis, and Dialog, have contained large storehouses of
knowledge, and can be accessed from the Internet with the appropriate
passwords and access software. However, these databases are not linked
together into a single whole, as is the World Wide Web.
48. Success of the Web in research, education, and political
activities. The World Wide Web has become so popular because of its
open, distributed, and easy-to-use nature. Rather than requiring those
who seek information to purchase new software or hardware, and to learn
a new kind of system for each new database of information they seek to
access, the Web environment makes it easy for users to jump from one
set of information to another. By the same token, the open nature of
the Web makes it easy for publishers to reach their intended audiences
without having to know in advance what kind of computer each potential
reader has, and what kind of software they will be using.
* * *
74. The types of content now on the Internet defy easy classification.
The entire card catalogue of the Carnegie Library is on-line, together
with journals, journal abstracts, popular magazines, and titles of
compact discs. The director of the Carnegie Library, Robert
Croneberger, testified that on-line services are the emerging trend in
libraries generally. Plaintiff Hotwired Ventures LLC organizes its Web
site into information regarding travel, news and commentary, arts and
entertainment, politics, and types of drinks. Plaintiff America Online,
Inc., not only creates chat rooms for a broad variety of topics, but
also allows members to create their own chat rooms to suit their own
tastes. The ACLU uses an America Online chat room as an unmoderated
forum for people to debate civil liberties issues. Plaintiffs' expert,
Scott Bradner, estimated that 15,000 newsgroups exist today, and he
described his own interest in a newsgroup devoted solely to Formula 1
racing cars. America Online makes 15,000 bulletin boards available to
its subscribers, who post between 200,000 and 250,000 messages each
day. Another plaintiffs' expert, Harold Rheingold, participates in
"virtual communities" that simulate social interaction. It is no
exaggeration to conclude that the content on the Internet is as diverse
as human thought.
75. The Internet is not exclusively, or even primarily, a means of
commercial communication. Many commercial entities maintain Web sites
to inform potential consumers about their goods and services, or to
solicit purchases, but many other Web sites exist solely for the
dissemination of non-commercial information. The other forms of
Internet communication -- e-mail, bulletin boards, newsgroups, and chat
rooms -- frequently have non-commercial goals. For the economic and
technical reasons set forth in the following paragraphs, the Internet
is an especially attractive means for not-for-profit entities or public
interest groups to reach their desired audiences. There are examples in
the parties' stipulation of some of the non-commercial uses that the
Internet serves. Plaintiff Human Rights Watch, Inc., offers
information on its Internet site regarding reported human rights abuses
around the world. Plaintiff National Writers Union provides a forum for
writers on issues of concern to them. Plaintiff Stop Prisoner Rape,
Inc., posts text, graphics, and statistics regarding the incidence and
prevention of rape in prisons. Plaintiff Critical Path AIDS Project,
Inc., offers information on safer sex, the transmission of HIV, and the
treatment of AIDS.
76. Such diversity of content on the Internet is possible because the
Internet provides an easy and inexpensive way for a speaker to reach a
large audience, potentially of millions. The start-up and operating
costs entailed by communication on the Internet are significantly lower
than those associated with use of other forms of mass communication,
such as television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. This enables
operation of their own Web sites not only by large companies, such as
Microsoft and Time Warner, but also by small, not-for-profit groups,
such as Stop Prisoner Rape and Critical Path AIDS Project. The
Government's expert, Dr. Dan R. Olsen, agreed that creation of a Web
site would cost between $ 1,000 and $ 15,000, with monthly operating
costs depending on one's goals and the Web site's traffic. Commercial
online services such as America Online allow subscribers to create Web
pages free of charge. Any Internet user can communicate by posting a
message to one of the thousands of newsgroups and bulletin boards or by
engaging in an on-line "chat", and thereby reach an audience worldwide
that shares an interest in a particular topic.
77. The ease of communication through the Internet is facilitated by
the use of hypertext markup language (HTML), which allows for the
creation of "hyperlinks" or "links". HTML enables a user to jump from
one source to other related sources by clicking on the link. A link
might take the user from Web site to Web site, or to other files within
a particular Web site. Similarly, by typing a request into a search
engine, a user can retrieve many different sources of content related
to the search that the creators of the engine have collected.
78. Because of the technology underlying the Internet, the statutory
term "content provider," which is equivalent to the traditional
"speaker," may actually be a hybrid of speakers. Through the use of
HTML, for example, Critical Path and Stop Prisoner Rape link their Web
sites to several related databases, and a user can immediately jump
from the home pages of these organizations to the related databases
simply by clicking on a link. America Online creates chat rooms for
particular discussions but also allows subscribers to create their own
chat rooms. Similarly, a newsgroup gathers postings on a particular
topic and distributes them to the newsgroup's subscribers. Users of the
Carnegie Library can read on-line versions of Vanity Fair and Playboy,
and America Online's subscribers can peruse the New York Times,
Boating, and other periodicals. Critical Path, Stop Prisoner Rape,
America Online and the Carnegie Library all make available content of
other speakers over whom they have little or no editorial control.
79. Because of the different forms of Internet communication, a user of
the Internet may speak or listen interchangeably, blurring the
distinction between "speakers" and "listeners" on the Internet. Chat
rooms, e-mail, and newsgroups are interactive forms of communication,
providing the user with the opportunity both to speak and to listen.
80. It follows that unlike traditional media, the barriers to entry as
a speaker on the Internet do not differ significantly from the barriers
to entry as a listener. Once one has entered cyberspace, one may engage
in the dialogue that occurs there. In the argot of the
medium, the receiver can and does become the content provider, and
vice-versa.
81. The Internet is therefore a unique and wholly new medium of
worldwide human communication.