EFF "Jurisdiction, Sovereignty & Borders" Archive

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anon_juris.article

"The Coming Jurisdictional Swamp of Global Internetworking (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Anonymity)", by Douglas Barnes. Overview of several reasons why anonymity on the Net is a good idea, and a look at the many ways in which a foreign jurisdiction can exercise authority over citizens of other countries.

between_global_and_local.paper

William Uncapher's "Between Local and Global: Placing the Mediascape in the Transnational Cultural Flow" (draft). Excerpt: "The ongoing integration of media systems world wide provides an essential component to the emerging disciplines and theories of globalization. And yet a persistent and institutionalized theorizing of media systems into either 'mass' or 'interpersonal' realms continues to obscure many of the complex, even revolutionary changes presently occurring at intermediate levels..."

content_regulation_johnson.article

"Taking Cyberspace Seriously: Dealing with Obnoxious Messages on the Net", David Johnson. Excerpt: "Territorially-based laws fail us when we confront new phenomena involving participants whose geographical locations span legal jurisdictions and have little relationship to the locus of the harms they might inflict...we can reduce the intensity of the debate, and find some real solutions...if we take seriously the idea that cyberspace is a separate place...fully absorb the fact that most communications on the net amount to the joint creation of a new shared space allowing the assembly of like-minded individuals."

cyberjuris_quidproquo_johnson.article

"Jurisdictional Quid Pro Quo and the Law of Cyberspace", article by David Johnson. Excerpt: "...both national and international law doctrines regarding jurisdiction rely heavily on questions regarding the (1) the extent of the voluntary "contacts" the relevant person has had with the interested jurisdiction and (2) the fairness of asserting personal jurisdiction over the acts of a foreign person. There is a sliding scale, with the importance of looking to fairness becoming greater as the extent of contacts diminishes. There may also be a corrollation between a state's assertion of jurisdiction over a person or matter and its practical ability to enforce a judgment."

cyberlaw_johnson.article

"Lawmaking and Law Enforcement in Cyberspace", article by David Johnson. Excerpt: "One way to advance exploration of the question whether Cyberspace should be self-regulating (or, perhaps, even "sovereign" within its sphere) is to discuss in concrete terms how the law of Cyberspace can be made and enforced so as to achieve both effectiveness and fundamental principles of fairness."

global_civil_soc_networks.paper

"Computer Networks and the Emergence of Global Civil Society: The Case of the Association for Progressive Communications", paper presented at the Annual Conf. on Peace Studies, Boulder CO, Feb. 28, 1992, by Howard H. Frederick. Excerpt: "The growth of...global interdependent communication relations has been greatly accelerated by the advent of decentralizing communication technologies such as computer networking. Global civil society as represented by the "NGO Movement" (nongovernmental organizations) now represents a force in international relations, one that circumvents hegemony of markets and of governments. This paper outlines the concept of global civil society and the NGO Movement, describes the obstacles that they face from governments and transnational corporations, and sketches the emergence of the Association for Progressive Communications network as an illustration of this worldwide phenomenon.'

iu.plague.073196.article

Governments around the globe are rushing to barricade their borders, dam the flow of foreign data, and create a new world information order. Cover story of August 1996 Internet Underground magazine: "Plague of Freedom", by Declan McCullagh.

russian_coup_netuse.article

Laurence Press' August 1991 collection of information and postings related to how the Internet was used in the Russian coup.

whole_world_talking.article

Kevin Cooke and Dan Lehrer article, "The Internet: The Whole World is Talking", from The Nation, July 12, 1993. Covers use of Internet in Russian coup and other examples of the Net trascending national borders. Also doubles as an OK introduction to what the Internet is and what its potential is, as well as the threats to it.

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LICRA_v_Yahoo/

Directory of information on the LICRA v. Yahoo! (French) and Yahoo! v. LICRA (US) cases, in which France tries to censor a US-based website, and US courts are skeptical. The case was initially brought against Yahoo!, Inc. by Ligue [Internationale] Contre le Racisme et l'Antisemitisme (LICRA) in France. Yahoo! filed for a US court judgement against US enforceability of the French ruling, which went against them. As of Nov. 2001, US courts have supported Yahoo!'s position that the US cannot be forced to censor a US-based operation by a foreign government for speech that, while banned in another country, is legal in the US.

Related On-Site Resources

EFF's Global Issues & Policy Archive

Thomases case

Directory of information regarding the bust of Amateur Action BBS sysops Robert and Carleen Thomas of California, prosecuted under Tennessee, and later Utah, law.

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