Code 2.0

Law (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1990), 79–97.

10.

See Laura J. Gurak, Persuasion and Privacy in Cyberspace: The Online Protests over Lotus, Marketplace, and the Clipper Chip (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), 12–16. Gurak notes that 'pseudonyms, for example, can be used to mask the name of a speaker, so that often it is the ethos of the texts, not the character of the speaker, that does or does not convince others.' Cf. Lori Kendall, 'MUDder? I Hardly Know 'Er!: Adventures of a Feminist MUDder,' in Wired Women: Gender and New Realities in Cyberspace, edited by Lynn Cherny and Elizabeth Reba Weise (Seattle: Seal Press, 1996), 207–233. Godwin describes another possibility, as the ASCII channel on the Net shuts down: 'Then, perhaps, the world of ASCII communications will become a preserve for the edgy exchanges of tense text maniacs. Like me'; Cyber Rights, 45.

11.

This is what economists would call a 'separating equilibrium': 'players of different types adopt different strategies and thereby allow an uninformed player to draw inferences about an informed player's type from that player's actions'; Douglas G. Baird, Robert H. Gertner, and Randal C. Picker, Game Theory and the Law (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1994), 314. William Mitchell argues that the advance back to synchronous communication is not necessarily an advantage: 'As much more efficient asynchronous communications systems have become commonplace, though, we have seen that strict synchrony is not always desirable; controlled asynchrony may have its advantages'; City of Bits, 5– 16.

12.

On making the Web accessible, see Judy Brewer and Daniel Dardailler, 'Web Accessi bility Initiative (WAI),' available at http://www.w3.org/WAI (cached: http://www.webcitation.org/5IwtGZOw1); cf. 'Note: Facial Discrimination: Extending Handicap Law to Employment Discrimination on the Basis of Physical Appearance,' Harvard Law Review 100 (1987): 2035.

13.

Dawn C. Nunziato, 'The Death of the Public Forum in Cyberspace,' Berkeley Technol- ogy Law Journal 20 (2005): 1115, 1125.

14.

See AOL, 'About the Company: Profile,' available at http://web.archive.org/web/19990202213639/ www.aol.com/corp/profile/. (cached: http://www.webcitation.org/5IwtL33CC), and now available at http://www.corp.aol.com/whoweare/history.shtml (cached: http://www.webcitation.org/5IwtNpDnW).

15.

Nunziato, 'The Death of the Public Forum in Cyberspace,' 1125.

16.

See Kara Swisher, Aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the Web (New York: Times Business, 1998), 65.

17.

As stated in AOL's Terms of Service (TOS): 'As an AOL member you are required to follow our TOS no matter where you are on the Internet.' Some of the other terms of service include the following rules: 'Language: Mild expletives and nonsexual anatomical references are allowed, but strong vulgar language, crude or explicit sexual references, hate speech, etc., are not. If you see it, report it at Keyword: Notify AOL. Nudity: Photos containing revealing attire or limited nudity in a scientific or artistic context are okay in some places (not all). Partial or full frontal nudity is not okay. If you see it, report it at Keyword: Notify AOL. Sex/Sen suality: There is a difference between affection and vulgarity. There is also a difference between a discussion of the health or emotional aspects of sex using appropriate language, and more crude conversations about sex. The former is acceptable, the latter is not. For example, in a discussion about forms of cancer, the words breast or testicular would be acceptable, but slang versions of those words would not be acceptable anywhere. Violence and Drug Abuse: Graphic images of humans being killed, such as in news accounts, may be acceptable in some areas, but blood and gore, gratuitous violence, etc., are not acceptable. Discussions about coping with drug abuse in health areas are okay, but discussions about or depictions of illegal drug abuse that imply it is acceptable are not.'

18.

See Amy Harmon, 'Worries About Big Brother at America Online,' New York Times, January 31, 1999, 1.

19.

Just as version 2 of this book was being completed, AOL switched to a free online serv ice. The full scope of the change that this will involve is not yet clear. I have therefore framed this discussion in the past tense.

20.

Swisher, Aol.com, 314–15. Available at http://legal.web.aol.com/aol/aolpol/comguide.html (cached: http://www.webcitation.org/5IwtQ5mrQ).

21.

Ibid., 96–97.