LAW AND ETHICS ON THE "NETS"

[marsha-w@uiuc.edu (Marsha-W)]

Looks like more of a push for regulation:  Charles Bell
thought you all might have something to say about this...
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              ABA SCI/TECH SECTION, IPPP COMMITTEE
                  LAW AND ETHICS ON THE "NETS"
                        December 8, 1994

     The John Marshall Law School's Center for Informatics Law, in
conjunction with the ABA Section of Science & Technology Committee
on Information Practices, Policies, and Privacy, is undertaking a
project entitled, "Law and Ethics on the 'Nets'" (LEON).

     The development of a national information infrastructure and
a global electronic network, of which Internet is the backbone, has
presented a multitude of legal and ethical problems involving use
and abuse of the networks, nationally and worldwide.  Almost on a
daily basis, news items announce electronic network transmissions
constituting hate mail, profanity, vulgarity, obscenity, child
pornography, sexual harassment, defamation and invasion of privacy.

The violation of intellectual property rights and information
system security are also frequent occurrences.  National and
international discussions consider such questions as what "rules of
the road" ought to apply, who can make them, how can they be
enforced, and what will be the legal and political relationships
between states and nations regarding cyberspace?  It is argued that
at present the lawless, the intolerant and the disrespectful seem
able to pollute the worldwide information stream with little
constraint.

     Certainly, the current state of anarchy in national and global
electronic networks cannot continue if the technology is to achieve
the remarkable benefits that have been predicted in terms of
communications among institutions and individuals, whether
government, business or society at large.  The purpose of the
CIL/S&T project is to promote a dialogue that can lead to
recommendations for treating with the many issues at hand.

     We solicit the participation of the Sci/Tech IPPP Committee
(and interested others!) in addressing the foregoing issues.
Please send me your expression of interest -- indicating what
specific aspects of the various questions you would like to
address, and then I'll organize us into some working groups.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR INTERESTS BY JANUARY 9, 1995, SO WE CAN
STRUCTURE THE PROJECT AND PROMPTLY GET UNDER WAY.

     We plan a program on the project for the ABA annual meeting in
Chicago next August, and we hope to generate a publication for the
Section concerning the project results.


George B. Trubow, Professor of Law
Director, Center for Informatics Law
The John Marshall Law School
315 S. Plymouth Ct.
Chicago, IL 60604-3907
Fax: 312-427-8307; Voice: 312-987-1445
E-mail: 7trubow@jmls.edu




Marsha Woodbury     marsha-w@uiuc.edu    U of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign
FAX 217-356-7050        Home 217-337-0001       Work 217-244-0780
http://www.cpsr.org/dox/global.html