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of regulating a multi-jurisdictional international space forces us to re-
examine our many basic beliefs, such as if we should regulate at all, what
should we be regulating and to what extent?
This paper will discus topic such as the role of the state and
jurisdiction, democracy and constitutionalism, individualism and
sovereignty, media studies. This analysis shall be done in the context of
providing insight for comments on the legal issues of privacy, criminal and
tort law, copyright and trademark law, domain names issues, e-commerce, the
use of cryptography, and the apportionment of internet service provider
liability.
The Internet
Originally constructed to promote a military agenda, the very form of
the internet seems to suggest a recipe for the growth of decentralization,
direct democracy or anarchy. Yet at the same time it offers the possibility
for a more efficient, centralized, effective commercial space. Unlike most
other forms of communication, the Internet has no fixed physical location,
central control point or permanent intelligence. Instead, all stored
information and network management is widely distributed, allowing each
remote entity to be in charge of its own area. Each such entity has an
equivalent level of authority, priority and control. All work together
according to a common set of technical rules and standards.
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contracts) are done on the net, but it also provides a new medium in which
to defame or infringe copyright.
"We become what we behold, we shape our tools, and thereafter our
tools shape us." This general idea relates as much to the development of
Papyrus as it does to the printing press and the internet. For McLuhan, the
common striving of mankind is a search for innovative solutions to ease the
labour of our bodies and transcend space and time. Stone is hard to move but
lasts a long time. Cars move faster and serve to replace or extend the reach
of our feet but only last a few decades. Typography developed as a landmark
media extension of our oral culture, and electricity (the medium of the
internet) resembles an extension of mind and impulse itself. Electronic
media transcend the barriers of space and time into the realm of the
simultaneous virtually defeating the limitations imposed on us by space and
time. The internet is potentially permanent and mobile.
"It is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human
association and action." According to McLuhan, the history of social
organization is controlled by media and driven by technological inventions.
Every new technological development in the uses of media result in a new
organizational state structure. This idea suggests that accompanying the
technological development of, for example, papyrus, Rome was able to extend
its reach and form an empire relying on the power of the medium of paper
used to organize, count and record inventory, stock and population census.
The greater flexibility of papyrus over other organization mediums, such as
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bead counting or stone carving, created the ability to form and govern a
larger political organization then had ever been possible before.
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decisions about what occurs and who is present limited only by the
technology itself. These ideas are embodied in chat groups, BBS's,
newsgroups, or web pages. This freedom is accessible only within the market
system, so long as the user can pay for the resource. The decentralized
aspect of control is chaotic and anarchic. It is a collection of multiple
individual spheres of sovereignty that effectively prevents single party
control within what will hopefully become a large democratic arena of
debate, and a large global market. At the same time, the internet technology
is built for and under the pressure of economic incentives and controls,
conforming within a free market capitalist system which promotes the
centralized conforming tendencies of economy and efficiency.
In general, comity reflects the view that those who care more deeply
about and better understand the disputed activity should be able to
determine the outcome.
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rules and principles which govern the exercise of constitutional authority
in the whole and in every part of the Canadian state. Legality and
legitimacy are linked, in our constitutional history and the basic division
of powers in ss.91, 92 of the Constitution Act 1867, is the primary textual
expression of federalism principles. The evolution of Canada's
constitutional arrangements are characterized by the adherence to the rule
of law, respect for democratic institutions, the accommodation of
minorities, insistence that governments adhere to constitutional conduct and
a desire for continuity and stability. Underlying constitutional principles
may in certain circumstances give rise to substantive legal obligations
having full legal force. Keeping in mind that federalism was arrived at as a
compromise between the federal and provincial governments, so that the
provinces may retain independence and autonomy under the Crown, a central
government was formed representative of all provinces and entrusted with
authority only in affairs in which they all had a common interest.
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Parliamentarianism. Unspoken or unrecognized in the Quebec Reference is the
strong link between parliamentary democracy and capitalism. Canada is best
described in the ideological terms as a form of Democratic Capitalism. Our
constitution represents a marriage between democracy and the unwritten rules
of capitalism. These ideas define our nation state core values.
"We are all equal under the law." This famous phrase, formulated by
Dicey, relates to equality of legal rights only. However, enforcement of
those rights is dependent on the resources and the ability to pursue
effective remedy. Canada promises legal equality, but does not support any
kind of actual equality, equality of resources.
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Autonomy and Self-Rule
Marshall McLuhan claimed the printing press was the birth of the
nation state and individualism. With the advent of typographic reproduction,
leaflets were printed containing the original treaties of the rationalist
movement which began in the mid 1700's, in the days of Voltaire and
culminated in the works of Rousseau and John Locke a century later.
In the liberal theories of people like John Stuart Mill and Locke,
theories were formed around ideas of "individualism," "sovereignty," and
"autonomy;" concepts which developed in classical economic terms in
ideological opposition to excessive state control. "Self-rule" was preferred
as an efficient allocation of market resources as opposed to excessive state
authority.
Perhaps the calculator was the advent of the first electronic commerce
space. The ability to electronically record and compute transactions is a
watershed in technology. The analysis of credit transactions that occur
within virtual space will be a powerful economic tool to represent the
choice of each individual and exert direct control over the market. The
internet is the calculator writ large. That portion of commercial
transaction which take place in virtual space will create new powers for
people as well as have the potential to provide efficient delivery of goods
and services.
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Economists from the 19th Century would argue that we should allow the
growth of e-commerce to occur strictly in the private sector. Economic
theory trends suggest otherwise. A brief history of economic thought will be
useful. The following information is from A History of Economic Thought by
William Barber, 1967.
Classical Economics
Beginning with the ideas of Adam Smith (An Inquiry into the Nature and
Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1750) and ending approximately with John
Stuart Mill (1850's) the framework was laid out for classical economics.
Industrialization
Neo-Classical Economics
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micro-economics and price theory help calm many of the disquieting aspects
Marx created around classical economics. It accomplished this by ignoring
the class division and working from the assumption of the existence of the
"autonomous" rational wealth maximizer as subject for study.
Keynesian Economics,
General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, 1932
Keynes represents the next change in economic theory and his ideas
were created between the two world wars. His economics theory claimed that
Laizze faire capitalism was inadequate to the increased problems of
industrialized societies and that government initiative, hereforto seen as
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wasteful, should support and safeguard the economy, for example, the
implementation of anti-trust competition law.
These ideas are responsible for our current level of debt to G.N.P.
ratio. A large part of Keynes contribution to economics was the
determination of the G.N.P.
What is clear from the preceding is that the commercial nature of any
transaction renders it justicible at common law. Transactions, facilitated
by law, birthed by public and democratic institutions, are open to
regulation by policy, or statute, just as much as open to review, by the
courts and individuals directly. The institutions that originally gave
legitimacy to exchange in the form of legal transactions should then proceed
to regulate and ensure access, predictability, reliability while developing
the overall growth of the service.
In the 1990's economic trends have borne out that hoarding money
against future hard times is a good idea. Many governments resorted to using
Keynes as a justification for increased spending. However, just as it is
prudent for individual economic actors to collect capital as a buffer
against recession, so to would it be prudent for our government to do the
same. Only after a period of saving should deficit spending be contemplated
as sustainable for short duration.
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in the form of taxes and service fees. Individuals with large debt loads are
not as willing or able to act in society as rational economic actors as they
become merely slave-like, a labour pool, and the profit of their labour is
never used except as debt and interest reduction. For example, the cutbacks
in education in the early nineties created a large squeeze on the pocket
books of university students. In socialist leaning countries, these
educational institutions were used to serve the population at relatively low
subsidized costs, promoting rational democratic economic actors. Now
students graduate with a 40-70 thousand dollar debt to repay. In this way,
Keynesian economics has supported increasing economic pressures on the mass
of people rather than create an economic benefit. If the government ever
does pay down its debt, the best thing it could do with the proceeds would
be to reform not just tax law, but also debt law to alleviate this mass
burden on the individual actors in our economy.
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expansion. I do not think it bold to suggest that Marx's predictions about
the collapse of the market system are unfounded, they may just not have
waited long enough for fruition
The Rationalists posited that the equitable just state would arise
from the use of reason, and centralized authority. Rousseau and John Locke,
their ideas continuations of the earlier philosophers from the likes of
Hobbes and Macheavelli, charted out the means and ways of western
libertarian abstract states that today are our inheritance. Torts, contract,
property, legislation, education all have imprints of Locke's scientific
rationalisms, a unique 19th century romantic illumination, if not illusion.
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personal change that creates the conditions for a revolution. Again, a
learning statement from the Quebec Public Interest Research Group at
Concordia,
"How we learn…
Everyone has a wealth of skills and knowledge to share; we are all both teachers and
learners. We become free and creative thinkers when we have the opportunity to
critically discuss what we learn. Social interaction and co-operation are important
to our education. Self-confidence is built as we are respected for what we know.
Learners are empowered when we are encouraged to articulate our own concerns and
become involved in our communities."
Proudhon, 1850's
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However, Proudhon did not advocate an absolute or extreme position but
rather warned against utopianism, and absolutism as a kind of thought which
fails to distinguish between concrete reality and abstract products of the
mind. In The Federal Principle, 1852, Proudon sought to find a realistic
pragmatic balance in political life between,
"Authority and Liberty, two principles which underlie all forms of organized
society, on the one hand contrary to each other, in a perpetual state of
conflict, and on the other can neither eliminate each other nor be resolved,
some kind of compromise between the two is necessary. Whatever the system
favoured, whether it be monarchical, democratic, communist or anarchist, its
length of life will depend to the extent to which it has taken the contrary
principle into account."
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establishment of the nation state, its accompanying distributive systems,
and the slow pace of democratic reform.
The Free Paris Commune of 1871 was the result of spontaneous civil
disobedience and was established at the end of the Franco-Prussian war of
1871 in Paris, as a viable political solution to the current political
agenda and as an alternative to paying war damages. It was a progressive
democratic working class model of local political organization.
The upper aristocratic class composing the nation state had left many
local workers and women disenfranchised from accessing political reform.
Similar anarchic ideas influenced or independently emerged in many other
populations such as in the states of China, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium,
and Russia.
The nation state implies power from the centre outward, imposition,
the anarchists wanted actual people in communities to constitute their own
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authoritative jurisdiction, or popular sovereignty, with elected delegates
responsible and in touch with their community, with the ability to enter and
exit federal arrangements.
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The Economics of Kropotkin. The Conquest of Bread.
Bakunin, 1914.
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great mass of the population has to sell its labour power in order to
survive, there can not be democratic government. So long as people are
economically exploited by capitalism and there are gross inequalities of
wealth, there can not be real democracy. Economic facts are much stronger
than political rights. No one can govern for the people in their interests.
Only personal and direct control over our own lives will ensure that justice
and freedom will prevail. To abdicate direct control is to deny freedom. To
grant political sovereignty to others, whether under the mantle of
democracy, republicanism, the people's state, or whatever, is to give others
control and therefore domination over our lives.
Anarcho-syndicalists
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Leo Tolstoy, The Slavery of Out Times, 1900.
The survivors and ideas next resurface in Spain in the 1930's and have
prolific advocates as notable feminist Emma Goldman. It was the anarchists
who first began the fight against fascism on the soil of Spain where they
were defeated by the Italian backed Spanish Fascist Army of which Hitler was
such a great admirer. There are still independent sovereignty associations
in Spain today.
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opinion, that the nationalists were able to erase and malign the very word
connected with even the concept of a stateless society.
Anarchy Conclusion
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both the principles of justice and the dictates of utility. They are the
main obstacle which prevents the successes of modern techniques from being
brought into the service of all, so as to produce general well-being. True
progress lies in the direction of decentralization, both territorial and
functional, in the development of the spirit of local and personal
initiative, and of free federation of autonomous sovereign groups.
Cryptography
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state. What kind of paternalism allows the nation state to decide the
limitations or autonomy of people?
France and Sweden have their own language Windows systems. These
operating systems have been built without any cryptography capabilities, to
reflect local laws, so if software is developed that requires cryptography,
these users are unable to use it unless they copy and install an English
Windows version including the cryptography technology. Businesses that use
windows to encrypt legal secure documents will be unable to do business
within the independent jurisdictions that have not conformed to a single
global standard operating system, or in this case an incompatibility drawn
between technology of different languages.
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the individual perhaps rests within the traditional power structures of
western monarchy, with the King as the first individual. With the advent of
the printing press and Guttenberg's mass production of typography, many more
voices sprang to life as individuals created what today can be called the
cult of personality. In this context, historically, the emphasis on
individualism was an important counter point to group or national conformity
pressures. It seems to me that acceptance of individualism leads to privacy
concepts which are absent in historical group dominated social structures.
Many libertarians want absolute privacy on demand. However, the human
experience itself suggests that privacy is almost a new phenomena in our
social settings. It certainly doesn’t seem to be rooted in any sort of
natural law or necessity, although it is implicit in the rule of law as a
recognition of individual rights and obligations.
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In many cases, the original "bad actor" potentially at fault is
anonymous, mobile and/or judgement proof. It is the ISP that while perhaps
merely a conduit, has the deepest pockets from which to achieve judgement.
Music and movies can be copied and redistributed for free over the
internet, any piece of digital information can be electronically reproduced
and easily distributed, this is anarchy. One could download any book, any
program, any information for free from the net. In a multi-jurisdictional
global space, how much can domestic law control information flow? This
question is probably answered by counting how much money will be lost by
intellectual property owners and their ability to effectively lobby. The
state will have to balance the unlimited free exchange of information on the
one hand, against the economic incentive, gain or loss, of the rights holder
on the other. Information being exchanged for free, from one not-for-profit
private individual to another, undermines the economy, the very wage
incentive system which keeps industry rolling, it remains on the periphery
of permissible legal behaviour.
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economic ownership rights in intellectual property? Who will enforce these
rights against judgement-proof abusers?
The sine qua non of Trade Marks and Trade Names is distinctiveness
which can be expressed in symbol or language. TM's and TN's must be used in
association with wares or services and be so associated with the wares or
services that notice of the association between the mark or name is given at
the time of transfer of property, service or product. Permitted TM's and
TN's are limited only by precedent of distinctiveness. In Canada, to
register a TM or TN requires that the word or symbol be,
The Trade-Marks Act grants the right of exclusive use to the holder of
the trademark as against the world, or as far as the jurisdiction, domestic
and international, will extend to provide a remedy for direct, or deemed
infringements of the same or similar marks. The Trade-Marks Act also
protects against any depreciation of goodwill toward a product or service
resulting from mark infringement. Beyond the Trade-Marks Act, historically,
the common law tort of "passing off" has been used to protect a
distinguishing mark. "Passing off" provides a remedy against using a TM or
TN in association with wares or services that is false or misleading to the
public. For example, making false statements to discredit a competitor, or
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directing attention to wares in such a way as to cause confusion, or simply
passing off, the quick switch, a misrepresentation of the identity of the
seller.
What is clear from the case law is that TM's and TN's will only be
protected against someone using the mark in association with wares or
services, as well they must be using the alleged infringing mark as a TM or
TN in the normal course of trade. In ideological jargon the law protects a
symbol or word to promote capitalism, but only against other capitalists,
those endeavouring to promote the rational expansion of wealth and engaged
in trade to do so.
The debate in the global arena becomes a forum for diversified debate
by almost anyone. When so many people traditionally denied a voice are able
to communicate with the aid of new technology, basic assumptions tend to be
re-evaluated. In the context of trade marks law and related domain name
issues, regular people can begin to question whether anyone should have a
monopoly over a word in the form of an IP address? It must be asked if our
law should be promoting corporate ownership over language typography as
related to the internet at all.
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technology such as typography, the printing press, and the internet. If we
are equal, as democracy suggests, no single sovereign can claim better
entitlement over property rights, ownership of language, or the specific use
of words. In this framework, who can presume to create a single source which
will grant undisputed exclusive rights over the use of words in the form of
IP addresses or online trade marks, for the benefit of commercial players?
The End
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This paper attempted to investigate the history of two competing
political and economic ideologies, capitalism and anarchy, as two extreme
counter points to assess what those interests are and who benefits in
relation to internet service provider liability and other ideological
general controlling features. Ironically, I think the historical
representations bring out the opposite of what might seem obvious. Anarchism
ideology begins by establishing rules to monitor and govern our distribution
economy in the hopes of creating material equality and autonomy. Free-market
capitalistism suggests that rules governing economic corporate entities
should be minimal, if any at all, at the same time technology is creating a
more conforming single global market, the rules of which they want "laizze
faire." This centralist representation with power in control of large
international private profit-oriented organizations working to benefit
shareholders, excludes democratic and anarchist ideological world view. A
blending and compromise between two extremes is often the better view.
ANARCHY
Ever reviled, accursed, ne'er understood,
Thou art the grisly terror of our age.
"Wreck of all order," cry the multitude,
"Art thou, and war and murder's endless rage."
O, let them cry. To them that ne'er have striven
The truth that lies behind a word to find,
To them the word's right meaning was not given.
They shall continue blind among the blind.
But thou, O word, so clear, so strong, so pure,
Thou sayest all which I for goal have taken.
I give thee to the future! Thine secure
When each at least unto himself shall waken.
Comes it in sunshine? In the tempest's thrill?
I cannot tell -- but it the earth shall see!
I am an Anarchist! Wherefore I will
Not rule, and also ruled I will not be!
- John Henry Mackay.
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Bibliography
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