Self Regulation of the Internet

I've organized the self-regulation literature according to different possible conceptions of the self.  This should help answer the fundamental question of who should regulate the Internet.

I. Possible Presumptions

A. Cyberspace Sovereignty

IV. Problems with Self-Regulation

Michael A. Geist, The Reality of Bytes: Regulating Economic Activity in the Age of the Inernet, FORTHCOMING 73 WASH. L. REV. (July 1998)  Can be fond at http://www.columbia.edu/~mag76/reality.html

I. Possible Presumptions
A. Cyberspace Sovereignty

Johnson, David R. and Post, David G., Law and Borders: The Rise of Law in Cyberspace, 48 Stan. L. Rev. 1367 (1996) http://www.cli.org/X0025_LBFIN.html (visited 3/6/98) ( "David Johnson and David Post argue that Cyberspace requires a system of rules quite distinct from the laws that regulate physical, geographically-defined territories. Cyberspace challenges the law's traditional reliance on territorial borders; it is a "space" bounded by screens and passwords rather than physical markers. Professors Johnson and Post illustrate how "taking Cyberspace seriously" as a unique place can lead to the development of both clear rules for online transactions and effective legal institutions.").  

Timothy S. Wu, Cyberspace Sovereignty? -- The Internet And The International System, 10 Harv. J. Law & Tec 647, 649 (1997) (Arguing that Johnson and Post's descriptive assumptions -- that the "territorial" powers of the world will, or already do, respect an emergent cyberspace sovereignty, and that state regulation of the Internet will be impossible or futile --are incorrect. Wu feels that "Internet regulation, although difficult, is possible and stands to become increasingly so regardless of its desirability on normative grounds.").  

Stephan Wilske & Teresa Schiller, International Jurisdiction In Cyberspace: Which States May Regulate The Internet?, 50 Fed. Comm. L.J. 117, 125 (1997) (The focus of this analysis is to show that States are not impressed by an alleged "independence from geographical constraints" resulting from the "electronic nature of the message transmission" or by a presumed failure of "territorially-based laws" to reach persons "whose geographical jurisdictions span legal jurisdictions."  
International law allows many more States to exercise jurisdiction than a Netizen might be aware. And there is little hope that States will respect the "independence of cyberspace.").  
  

II. Mechanisms of Self-Regulation  

A. "Self" as Individual User  

1. Self-Help  

Trotter Hardy, The Proper Legal Regime for "Cyberspace," 55 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 993 (1994) ("The lowest level of self-help is unilateral action by an individual. We might capture the sense of this measure with the phrase "if you don't like it, don't  
do it."")..  

Dee Pridgen, How Will Consumers Be Protected on the Information Superhighway?, 32 Land & Water L. Rev. 237, 253 (1997) ("The final avenue for consumer protection on the information superhighway is consumer self-help. Many Internet users oppose any and all government regulations of cyberspace. Some may call it anarchy, but Internet users label themselves "netizens," citizens of the Internet world, who agree to abide by their own self- imposed rules of "netiquette."")  

Jason Kay, Sexuality, Live Without a Net: Regulating Obscenity and Indecency on the Global Network, 4 S. Cal. Interdisciplinary L.J. 355, 386 (1995) ("The second system of self-regulation of the Net is the self-restricted channeling of sexually explicit material.  For example, people generally limit their discussions of sex to the appropriate groups in the alt.sex hierarchy. Those violating this custom get flamed, and if the newsgroup that they post to is "moderated," the messages will be removed.  Those people not wanting sexually explicit news do not have to subscribe to alt.sex or read the messages posted there.").  

2. Formal Private Contracts ˆ the Contract Paradigm  

    The entire concept of regulating behavior through thousands of individual contracts is almost synonomous with a free market approach, a school of thought increasingly being characterized as "cyberliberatarian." That close connection notwithstanding, it is included in this self regulation section as a mechanism of regulation; a means by which the free market, law-and-economics theory is practised.  So jump freely between this section and the Free Market section of the bibliography. 

For a critique of the cybyerlibertarian apporach, see Margaret Chon, Symposium: Towards A Radical And Plural Democracy: Radical Plural Democracy and the Internet, 33 Cal. W. L. Rev. 143 (1997) (discussing how "religious, familial, heterosexist and racial borders" expose the poverty of the cyberlibertarian assumption that meaningful choices guide transactional  choices on the Internet.) 

Internet Contracting in General 

Trotter Hardy, The Proper Legal Regime for "Cyberspace," 55 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 993 (1994) ((„Can we identify in general the situations in cyberspace for which contracts are an appropriate response? We know that parties who deal with each other in regard to transactions that have high value to the participants, relative to the costs of the transaction, can be expected to form their own contracts. The Coase theorem, moreover, tells us that in such circumstances, the parties will reach an economically efficient result. In the absence of some compelling contrary social policy or significant detrimental effects to parties external to the contract, then, there is good reason to allow parties in cyberspace to form their own contracts to their own mutual agreement.‰).  

David R. Johnson & Kevin A. Marks, Mapping Electronic Data Communications onto Existing Legal Metaphors:  Should we let our Conscience (and our Contracts) Be our Guide?, 38 Vill. L. Rev. 487 (1993) (advocatong that during the early development of cyberspace, when legal duties and obligations change and are uncertain, "electronic data communications should ... be ruled by contracts, not governed by extraneously imposed regulations."). 

Peter P. Swire, Cyberbanking and Privacy: The Contracts Model http://www.osu.edu/units/law/swire.htm (visited 4/26/98) (proposing a contract approach to regulating the use of consumer banking data and addressing privacy concerns.  The contract approach presents a middel ground between a pure market approach and a centralized government approach to portecting privacy.    "Financial records are created as part of a contractual relationship between the customer and the bank, such as the deposit contract to open a checking account or the contract establishing a credit card account. At some level, both the customer and the bank own the information, in the sense that they have the right and ability, arising from their contract, to keep records of the transactions." ) 
 
Fred M. Greguras, et al., Electronic Commerce: Online Contract Issues, Practicing Law Institute, Patents, Copyright, Trademarks, and Literary Property Course Handbook Series, 452 PLI/Pat. 11 (Sept. 1996) (survery of legal issues relating to on-line contracting.) 

Raymond T. Nimmer, Selling Product Online: Issues In Electronic Contracting, 467 PLI/Pat 823 (1997) (describes "how contracts are formulated, performed, enforced and otherwise developed in the new environment of electronic commerce.") 

a. Access Provider Rules  

    The contract approach that focuses on the contract between any two random individuals, for whatever purpose (see Swire's privacy piece) is very different from the contract approach between an Internet user and a system operator or an access provider.  The latter category of contractual regulatory solutions is almost like privatizing the police; the sysops become responsible for enforcement.   Moving the enforcement authoirty away from police, who have a hard time on the Internet, to systems operators is a regulatory move integrated into a lot of new Internet regulation models.  ( See David Johnson's Decentralized Emergent law) 

Robert L. Dunne, Deterring Unauthorized Access to Computers: Controlling Behavior in Cyberspace through a Contract Law Paradigm, 35 Jurimetrics J 1-15 (1994) (Proposing a contractual approach to regulating smaller unauthorized computer intrusions, the type too small to be addressed by real world law.  Many system operators would get together and create a model code of network conduct enforceable by any against any other's members.  If a member were to violate the code, his or her sysop would be notified and their access privileges modified or discontinued.) 
 
Keith J. Epstein and Bill Tancer, Enforcement of Use Limitations By Internet Services Providers: "How To Stop That Hacker, Cracker, Spammer, Spoofer, Flamer, Bomber", 9 Hastings Comm/Ent L.J. 661, 676 (1997) (proposing a tri-partite enforcement scheme by ISPs for regulating abuse or misuse of the Internet.  The scheme is based on actively enforcing contractual use limitations, which bind customers by an acceptable use policy.) 

David A. Gottardo, Commercialism and the Downfall of Internet Self Governance: an Application of Antitrust Law, 16 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 125, 132 (1997) (Describes and discusses the "Gatekeeper Theory of Self Governance," and the concomitant development of  a common set of standardized rules and enforcement strategies. The Comment warns that the  exercise of such standards and strategies may violate antitrust laws.") 

David R. Johnson, Lawmaking and Law Enforcement in Cyberspace (visited 4/26/98) (describing possible ways to establish minimum acceptable use principles and enforcement strategies amongst sysops.) 
http://www.cli.org/DRJ/make.html 

Examples 

Georgetown University Computer Systems Acceptable Use Policy 

b. On-line Dispute Resolution Mechanisms  

The Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts. (dedicated to "developing new tools and software, to working with others to experiment with and employ online resources effectively, to assisting parties who wish to resolve their disputes online, and to supporting research in areas related to dispute resolution and the online environment.") 
    The Online Ombuds Office is the dispute resolution arm of the Center: "Welcome to the Online Ombuds Office, a dispute resolution service for persons and institutions who would like an online mediator to assist them in settling a dispute." 

Mediate-net: Maryland's On-Line Mediation Service: (a research and demonstration project of the Program for Dispute Resolution at the University of Maryland School of Law and the Center for On-Line Mediation. Oroginally was concieved to provide a forum for resolving Maryland family law disputes, but is now trying to expand.) 

i. Virtual Magistrate  

Robert Gellman, A Brief History of the Virtual Magistrate Project: The Early Months, 44 La. B.J. 430 (1997)  

American Arbitration Association Inc., AAA Administers Pilot Project: ŒVirtual Magistrates‚ Arbitrate Computer Disputes, 51-SEP Disp. Resol. J. 6) (1997).  

ii. ADR  

Henry H. Perritt, Jr., Jurisdiction in Cyberspace, 41 Vill. L. Rev. 1, 93-94 (1996) ("The best means for reducing uncertainty with respect to personal jurisdiction, choice of law and venue in civil cases is to use international arbitration. Arbitration is a dispute resolution process in which a binding decision is made by one or more private individuals under an agreement entered into by the disputants.  The availability of arbitration thus depends upon the existence of an arbitration agreement, either entered into in advance for a class of disputes, or entered into after a particular dispute has arisen, limited to that dispute." 

E. Casey Lide, ADR and Cyberspace: The Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Online Commerce, Intellectual Property And Defamation, 12 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 193 (1996) (discussing ADR's role in the "decentralized regulation of cyberspace in three substantive contexts: (1) the commercialization of cyberspace, (2) intellectual property and (3) defamation.")  

George H. Friedman, Internet & Alternate Dispute Resolution: a Match Made in Cyperspace, 2 NO. 9 Multimedia Strategist 6 (1996).  

George H. Friedman, Alternative Dispute Resolution And Emerging Online Technologies: Challenges And Opportunities, 19 Hastings Comm/Ent L.J. 695 (1997).  

Robert J. Ambrogi, Cyberspace Becomes Forum For Resolving Disputes, 40-JUL Res Gestae 28 (1996).  

M. Ethan Katsh, Dispute Resolution In Cyberspace, 28 Conn. L. Rev. 953 (1996).  

Steven A. McAuley, The Federal Government Giveth And Taketh Away: How Nsi‚s Domain Name Dispute Policy (Revision 02) Usurps A Domain Name Owner‚s Fifth Amendment Procedural Due Process, 15 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 547 (1997).  

Frank A. Cona, Application Of Online Systems In Alternative Dispute Resolution, 45 Buff. L. Rev. 975 (1997).  

"Self" as Social Body or Culture  

Roger Clarke, Encouraging Cyberculture, http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/EncoCyberCulture.html  

Lawrence Lessig,  Social Meaning and Social Norms,144 U. Pa. L. Rev. 2181 (1996). 

1. Informal Social Control  

Peter Kollock & Marc Smith, Managing the Virtual Commons: Cooperation and Conflict in Computer Communities (visited May 1, 1996)  
<http:// www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/csoc/vcommons.htm>  

David Jacobson, Contexts and Cues in Cyberspace: The Pragmatics of Naming in Text-Based Virtual Realities, 52 J. of Anthropological Research 461 (1996).  

Richard H. McAdams, The Origin, Development, And Regulation of Norms, 96 Mich. L. Rev. 338 (1997).  

2. Virtual Communities  

Henry H. Perritt, Jr., President Clinton's National Information Infrastructure Initiative: Community Regained?, 69 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 991 (1994).  
  
Barry Wellman, et al., Computer Networks as Social Networks: Collaborative Work, Telework, and the Virtual Community, 22 Amer. Rev. Soc. 213 (1996)  

Howard Rheingold, The Virtual Community, (1993).  Available Online at http://www.well.com/user/hlr/vcbook/index.html.  

Conference in Sydney on 'Creative Collaboration in Virtual Communities'. http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/kcdc/conferences/VC97  

William S. Byassee,  Jurisdiction of Cyberspace: Applying Real World Precedent to the Virtual Community  
30 Wake Forest L. Rev. 197 (1995).  

Timothy C. May, 1995. "Crypto Anarchy and Virtual Communities," at http://lannert.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de/anarchy.html 

Edward J. Valauskas, Lex Networkia: Understanding the Internet Community, at http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue4/valauskas/index.html. 

Henry H. Perritt, Jr.,  Dispute Resolution In Electronic Network Communities, 38 Vill. L. Rev. 349  (1993).  

Patrick T. Egan, Virtual Community Standards: Should Obscenity Law Recognize the Contemporary Community Standard of Cyberspace?, 30 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 117 (1996).  

General Descriptions and Discussions  

Pavel Curtis, MUDding: Social Phenomenon in Text-Based Virtual Realities, in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace 347 (Peter Ludlow ed. 1996).  

Julian Dibbell, A Rape in Cyberspace; or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a cast of Dozens Turned a Database into a Society, in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace 375 (Peter Ludlow ed. 1996).  

Elizabeth M. Reid, Communication and Community on Internet relay Chat: Constructing Communities, in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace 397 (Peter Ludlow ed. 1996).  

Critical Perspective on Virtual Communities  

humdog, pandora‚s vox: on community in cyberspace, in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace 397 (Peter Ludlow ed. 1996).  

James DiGiovanna, Losing Your Voice on the Internet, in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace 397 (Peter Ludlow ed. 1996).  

3. Netiquette  

Arlene H. Rinaldi, The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette - Index at http://www.fau.edu/rinaldi/net/index.htm. 

Electronic Network Consortium, Recommended Etiquette for Online Service Users, February 16, 1996 at http://www.nmda.or.jp/enc/etiquette.html 

Amy Knoll, Any Which Way But Loose: Nations Regulate The Internet, 4 Tul. J. Int‚l & Comp. L. 275, 278 (1996).  

Roger Clarke, Net-Ethiquette Mini Case Studies of Dysfunctional Human Behaviour on the Net http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/Netethiquettecases.html (visited 3/6/98).  

George McMurdo, Netiquette for Networkers, 21 J. Info. Science 305 (1995) (discussing the basic commandments, suggestions, and rules for behavior in cyberspace)  

Susan B. Ross, Department: Technology & Law:Netiquette: Etiquette Over The Abn And The Internet, 33 AZ Attorney 13 (1996).  http://www.fau.edu/rinaldi/ netiquette.html and http://www.netwelcome.com/index.html.  

Jason Kay, Sexuality, Live Without A Net: Regulating Obscenity And Indecency On The Global Network, 4 S. Cal. Interdisciplinary L.J. 355, 385 (1995).  

The Spamming Lawyers Incident  

Dee Pridgen, How Will Consumers Be Protected On The Information Superhighway?, 32 Land & Water L. Rev. 237, 240 (1997).  

Llewellyn Joseph Gibbons, No Regulation, Government Regulation, or Self-Regulation: Social Enforcement or Social Contracting For Governance in Cyberspace, 6 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 475, 511-12 (1997)  

Jared Sandberg, Lawyers Whose Ads Crashed the Internet Help You Do it too; New Effort to Push Envelope Spooks Many Who Fear Junk Mail in Cyberspace, Wall  St. J., May 9, 1994, at B2, available in 1994 WL-WSJ 293112.  

4. The Demos  

Niva Elkin-Koren, Cyberlaw And Social Change: A Democratic Approach To Copyright Law In Cyberspace, 14 Cardozo Arts & Ent LJ 215 (1996).  

C. "Self" as Industry and Commerce  

Douglas C. Michael, Federal Agency Use of Audited Self-Regulation As a Regulatory Technique, 47 Admin. L. Rev. 171 (1995).  

General Descriptions of Trade and Industry Associations  

Jeffrey A. Jacobs, Comparing Regulatory Models -- Self-Regulation vs. Government Regulation: The Contrast Between the Regulation of Motion Pictures and Broadcasting May Have Implications for Internet Regulation, 1 J. TECH. L. & POL'Y 4 <http://journal.law.ufl.edu/~techlaw/1/jacobs.html> (1996).  

John Ellmore, Broadcasting Law and Regulation (1982) ("As the history of mass media reveals, members of professions or trades are often instrumental in developing self-regulatory codes.")  

David A. Gottardo, Commercialism and the Downfall of Internet Self Governance: An Application of Antitrust Law, 16 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 125, (1997).  

Dawn L. Johnson, It‚s 1996: Do You Know Where Your Cyberkids Are? Captive Audiences And Content Regulation On The Internet, 15 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 51 (1996)  

George P. Lamb & Carrington Shields, Trade Association Law And Practice (1971)  

Tedd Blecher, Product Standards and Certification Programs, 46 Brook. L. Rev. 223, 223 (1980).  

Trade Associations on the Internet  

Examples 

International Computer Security Association ( "ICSA is an independent organization that strives to improve security and confidence in global computing through awareness and the continuous certification of products, systems and people. As a     member-oriented company, the ICSA fosters the exchange of knowledge among three constituent groups: users of computer systems, developers of computer products and experts in computer security. As a service company, the ICSA applies its unique Risk Framework and Continuous Certification Model to reduce risk and improve computer security products.") 
    This is an interesting organization because it is a for profit service corporation. 

Electronic Network Consortium ("Electronic Network Consortium (or ENC) was originally established in 1985 as Videotex Promotion Association of Japan. The association was renamed Electronic Network Forum in 1988 and Electronic Network Consotium in 1992 to follow up the rapidly changing networking world.  It is a trade organization run by the New Media Development Association, an auxiliary organization of Ministry of International Trade and Industry. To date 93 organizations are members of the ENC including most of major online service providers in Japan.") 

Internet Watch Foundation ('IWF') now have an e-mail, telephone and fax hot-line and on-line users are able to report materials related to child pornography and other obscene materials. (See http://www.internetwatch.org.uk/hotline/)  

Internet Local Advertising and Commerce Association ("ILAC"): A not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 to promote and grow local advertising and commerce between buyers and sellers on the Internet.  at http://www.kelseygroup.com/ilac 

Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) Association founded in 1996 to promote and foster advertising on the Internet. at  http://www.iab.com 

The Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) 

Internet Services Association  

Better Business Bureau ("BBB") "BBBOnline,"  

Consumer Bankers Association,  

Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) ("Located just across the river from the nation's capital in Arlington, Va., ITAA today is the only trade association representing the broad spectrum of the world-leading U.S. IT 
industry. That's why ITAA encompasses over 9,000 direct and affiliate members, from America's largest corporations to the entrepreneurs building the blockbuster IT companies of the future.") 

EuroISPA, ("EuroISPA is the pan-European association of the Internet services providers associations  of the countries of the European Union. The association was established when a number of such ISP associations signed the EuroISPA Memorandum of Understanding on 6 August 1997 in Brussels. On 10 September 1997 the signatories to the MOU met again and signed     the agreement that formed EuroISPA EEIG, thereby creating the largest association of ISPs in the world.") at http://www.euroispa.org/index.html 

Internet Services Providers Association of the UK ( ISPA-uk ) 

South Australian Internet Association Incorporated   ("SAIA was founded in July 1996 by people working in and using the Internet. ... the professional association of the Internet Industry in South Australia. ") 

Western Australia Internet Association ("The Western Australian Internet Association (Inc.) is an organisation that was formed in 1995 to represent the  Internet community in a time of pending regulation and uncertainty eant collaboration was a necessity."). 

Australian Capital Territory Internet Association, Inc. ("ACT Internet Association Incorporated (ACTIA), an association of Internet Service Providers, Internet Access Providers and other related and similar bodies in the ACT."). 

Tasmanian Internet Association  ("The Tasmanian Internet Association was formed at a public meeting in April, 1997. It exists to represent all Tasmanian users of the Internet and other electronic communications systems."). 

Internet Industry Association (Australian) 

Direct Marketing Association  
Click on the Pirvacy Action section for Direct Marketers and there is a very interesting example of self-regulation through trade associations.  The DMA believes that direct  marketers can self-regulate.  One of the ways they help is to provide a questionaire about privacy policies for DMs to fill out.  The DMA then generates a privacy policy statement for the DM to post on their site.  You can also read their  Marketing Online Privacy Principles and Guidance by clicking on DMers-DMA Guidelines-Online Marketing Privacy Principles. For other Pirvacy regulation issues, see the EU Directive section, and the international privacy efforts page. 

IPWG ("IPWG is an informal organization of public interest organizations and private industry engaged in commerce and communication on the Internet.")  

TRUSTe ("TRUSTe's mission is to "establish trust and confidence in electronic transactions." TRUSTe seeks to promote the adoption of electronic commerce by providing users with a trusted privacy mark (or brand).")  

Analogous Self Regulation Associations in the Real World  

a. Movies  

Edward de Grazia & Roger K. Newman, Banned Films (1982) 

b. Advertising  

International Advertising Association  

American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) 

Jean J. Boddewyn, Global Perspectives on Advertising Self-Regulation: Principles and Practices in Thirty-Eight Countries, Westport, Connecticut: Quorum Books, 1992, 234 Pp.  

Ad Self-Reg Efforts Hit the Internet; Smoking Cessation/Dietary Supplement Cited, 445 FTC:WATCH at 12 (Nov. 20, 1995). (Discussing efforts of The major self-regulatory body for commercial advertising, the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus.)  

Mitchel L. Winick, Debra Thomas Graves, and Christy Crase, Attorney Advertising on the Internet: From Arizona to Texas--Regulating Speech on the Cyber-Frontier, 27 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 1487 (1996).  

William Sloan Coats and Heather D. Rafter, From Stoning to Spamming: Regulation of Advertising on the Internet, 1003 PLI/Corp 93 (1997).  

Stuart Elliott, Clinton Adviser Urges Self-Regulation in Cyberspace, New York Times, Cybertimes, November 4, 1997. (Ira Magaziner talking about the need for advertisers to regulate themselves on the Net.).  

Westlaw Law Practice Index, Self-Regulation: Neutral Forum For Advertisers, 10 Alternatives to High Cost Litig. 69 (1992).  

Thomas W. Reader, Is Self-Regulation The Best Option for the Advertising Industry in the European  Union?  An Argument for the Harmonization of Advertising Laws Through the Continued Use of Directives, 16 U. Pa. J. Int'l Bus. L. 181 (1995).  

Allen H. Gerstein & Michael R. Graham,  An Introduction to False Advertising Law and Industry Self-Regulation, SA71 ALI-ABA 239 (1996).  

Debra E. Goldstein, Industry Self-Regulation of Advertising National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. Cases, Trends and Outlook for the Future, 954 PLI/Corp 19 (1996).  

Andrea Levine & Elizabeth Lascoutx, Self-Regulation of Advertising; A. Nad Case Reports; B. Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising, 1010 PLI/Corp 35( 1997).  

In Cyberspace  

Internet Local Advertising and Commerce Association ("ILAC"): A not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 to promote and grow local advertising and commerce between buyers and sellers on the Internet.  at http://www.kelseygroup.com/ilac 

Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) Association founded in 1996 to promote and foster advertising on the Internet. at  http://www.iab.com 

Leonard R. Stein, Industry Self-Regulation of Advertising in Cyberspace, 1010 PLI/Corp 85 (1997).  

Ira Teinowitz,  FTC Will Survey Marketer Web Sites for Privacy: Agency Will Look at How Self-Regulation is Working, 2/16/98 Advert. Age 30, 1998 WL 6629059, Monday, February 16, 1998. 

c. Attorneys  

Allen Blumenthal, Attorney Self-Regulation, Consumer Protection, and the Future of the Legal Profession, 3-WTR Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 6 (1994).  

Thomas K. Byerley, Lawyer Self-Regulation and the Client Protection Fund, 75 Mich. B.J. 538 (1996).  
  
William T. Gallagher, Ideologies of Professionalism and the Politics of Self-Regulation in the California State Bar, 22 Pepp. L. Rev. 485 (1995).  
  

d.  Broadcasting  

Everette E. Dennis, Internal Examination: Self-Regulation and the American Media, 13 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 697 (1995). 

Kevin W. Saunders, Media Self-Regulation of Depictions of Violence: a Last Opportunity, 47 Okla. L. Rev. 445 (1994). 
 

    i.  Television  

Bernd-Peter Lange & Runar Woldt, The European Interest In The American Experience In Self-Regulation, 13 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 657 (1995).  

Mark M. MacCarthy, Broadcast Self-Regulation: the Nab Codes, Family Viewing Hour, and Television Violence, 13 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 667 (1995).  
  
e.  Automotive Repair Industry  

Lawrence M. Hecker & Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr., The Motorist Assurance Program: Automotive Repair Industry Self-Regulation, 1995-SEP NAAG Consumer Protection Rep. 1 (1995).  

f. Commodity Exchanges   

Sam Scott Miller, Elizabeth Hensley, & William O'Brien, The Rudman Report: Self-Regulation for the Next 100 Years?, 10 NO. 1 Insights 13 (1996). 

Jerry W. Markham, Commodities Regulation:  Fraud, Manipulation & Other Claims Part VII CFTC and Exchange Investigations and Disciplinary Proceedings, Chapter 26 Disciplinary Actions by Exchanges and the NFA, s 26.01  THE ROLE OF SELF-REGULATION, CB SEC13 s 26.01. & s 26.03  CFTC DEFERENCE TO SELF-REGULATION  

Stephen Craig Pirrong, The Self-Regulation of Commodity Exchanges:  The Case of Market Manipulation, 38 J.L. & Econ. 141 (1995)/ 
  
g. Corporations  

Robert J. Bush, Stimulating Corporate Self-Regulation--The Corporate Self-Evaluative Privilge: Paradigmatic Preferentialism or Pragmatic Panacea, 87 Nw. U. L. Rev. 597 (1993).  

h. Environmental Responsibility  

Eric Bregman & Arthur Jacobson, Environmental Performance Review: Self-Regulation In Environmental Law,  16 Cardozo L. Rev. 465 (1994).  

i. Individual Reference Services (Computerized database services that sell personal identifying information about consumers -- often referred to as „individual reference services,‰ „look-up services,‰ or „locators‰) 

Individual Reference Services Industry Principles, http://www.bna.com/e-law/docs/dbguides.html, (On June 10, 1997, during the first day of the Federal Trade Commission's four-day workshop on information privacy issues, the following guidelines were released by CDB Infotek, Database Technologies Inc., Experian, First Data InfoSource/Donnelley Marketing, Information America, IRSC Inc., LEXIS-NEXIS, and Metromail Corp.). 

Individual Reference Services: A Federal Trade Commission Report to Congress, July, 1997. (Describing the FTC's review of self-regulatory efforts of the Individual Reference Service Industry.) http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/privacy2/irsdoc2.htm#IIThe 

U.S. Department of Commerce, Privacy And Self-Regulation in the Information Age, Larry Irving, Assistant Secretary and Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, June, 1997 
 

2. Lex Mercatoria  

Joel R. Reidenberg, Lex Informatica: The Formulation of Information Policy Rules Through Technology,  76 Tex. L. Rev. 553  (1998). 

Henry H. Perritt, Jr., Jurisdiction In Cyberspace, 41 Vill. L. Rev. 1, 103-04 (1996).  

Leon E. Trakman, the Law Merchant: The Evolution of Commercial Law  (1983)  

Bruce L. Benson, The Spontaneous Evolution of Commercial Law, 55 Southern Econ. J. 644 (1989).  

Johnson, David R. and Post, David G., Law and Borders: The Rise of Law in Cyberspace, 48 Stan. L. Rev. 1367 (1996) http://www.cli.org/X0025_LBFIN.html (visited 3/6/98).  

David G. Post, Anarchy, State, and the Internet: An Essay on Law-Making in Cyberspace, 1995 J. Online L. art. 3, 46-69 http://www.law.cornell.edu/jol/jol.table.html,  

Paul R. Milgrom, Douglass C. North, and Barry R. Weingast, the Role of Institutions in the Revival of Trade: The Law Merchant, Private Judges, and the Champagne Fairs, 2 Econ. & Pol. 1 (1990)  

Harold J. Berman & Colin Kaufman, The Law of International Commercial Transactions (Lex Mercatoria), 19 Harv. Int'l L.J. 221, (1978). 
 

3. UCC  

a. Article 2B  

Raymond T. Nimmer. Article 2b: UCC In The Information Age,  490 PLI/Pat 309 (1997)(general overview of the draft as a commercial, rather than a regulatory statute; includes summary of 2B as it relates to Internet and electronic commerce issues).  
  
Michael Rustad & Lori E. Eisenschmidt, The Commercial Law of Internet Security, 10 High Tech. L.J. 213 (1995) ("advocates the forthcoming licensing article (Article 2B) of the U.C.C. as a legal framework ideally suited for the resolution of the novel and complex issues posed by the marketing of Internet information security products..."). 
 
ITAA Co-Sponsored Conference: Intellectual Property & Contract Law in the Information Age: The Impact of UCC Article 2B on the Future of Transactions in Information and Electronic Commerce, April 23-25, 1998. See http://www.itaa.org/ for details. 

D. "Self" as Internet Itself  

Sharon Eisner Gillett, The Self-Governing Internet:  Coordination by Design (visited 4/27/98)( describing how the decentralized Internet is coordinated into a unified system.) http://ccs.mit.edu/CCSWP197.html 

1. Internet Standards Setting Organizations  

W3C: http://www.w3.org/PICS/iacwcv2.htm  

Platform for Privacy Preference Project (P3P)  

Joseph M. Reagle Jr., P3P and Privacy on the Web FAQ Version: 1.0, August 4, 1997. http://www.w3.org/P3P/P3PFAQ.html  

Internet Society (ISOC)  
The Internet Society is a professional membership organization of Internet experts that comments on policies and practices and oversees a number of other boards and task forces dealing with network policy issues.  

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)  
Based at the Univeristy of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute, IANA is in charge of all "unique parameters" on the Internet, including IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. Each domain name is associated with a unique IP address, a numerical  
name consisiting of four blocks of up to three digits each, e.g. 204.146.46.8, which systems use to direct information through the network.  
  
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) (The IETF is the protocol engineering and development arm of the Internet.)  

Internet Architecture Board (IAB)  
The IAB is responsible for defining the overall architecture of the Internet, providing guidance and broad direction to the IETF. The IAB also serves as the technology advisory group to the Internet Society, and oversees a number of critical activities in  
support of the Internet.  

The Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG)  
The IESG is responsible for technical management of IETF activities and the Internet standards process. As part of the ISOC, it administers the process according to the rules and procedures which have been ratified by the ISOC Trustees. The IESG is  
directly responsible for the actions associated with entry into and movement along the Internet "standards track," including final approval of specifications as Internet Standards.  

Internet Society of Australia,  A Chapter of the Internet Society ("SOC-AU is a non-profit, membership-driven Internet organisation which promotes development of the Internet based upon  the needs of the end-users. It was founded in November 1996, and is the the Australian chapter of ISOC, the Internet Society,  a non-profit, non-governmental, international professional membership organization that brings diverse interests and factions together to work out reasonable solutions that generate progress and growth for the Internet."). 
 

III. Models of Self- Regulation  

A. Decentralized, Emergent Law  

David R. Johnson, Let‚s Let the Net Self-Regulate: The Case for Allowing Decentralized, Emergent Self-Ordering to Solve the „Public Policy‰ Problems Created by the Internet, Draft March 17, 1998. (Not yet publicly available). 

David R. Johnson & David G. Post, The New ŒCivic Virtue‚ of the Internet  

David R. Johnson & David G. Post And How Shall the Net Be Governed? A Meditation on the Relative Virtues of Decentralized, Emergent Law  

David R. Johnson, The Price of Netizenship  

Johnson‚s sources:  

ROBERT C. ELLICKSON, ORDER WITHOUT LAW: HOW NEIGHBORS SETTLE DISPUTES 137-47 (1991);  

Lewis A. Kornhauser, (Book review) Are There Cracks in the Foundations of Spontaneous Order? 
of  Order Without Law:  How Neighbors Settle Disputes.  By Robert C. Ellickson. Cambridge:  Harvard University Press.  1991, 67 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 647 (1992). 

Robert D. Cooter, Decentralized Law for a Complex Economy, 23 SW. U. L. REV. 443 (1994);  

Robert D. Cooter, Structural Adjudication and the New Law Merchant: A Model of Decentralized Law, 14 INT. J. LAW &AMP; ECON. 215 (1994).  

B. New Paradigms to address virtual vices  

James Nahikian, Learning To Love "The Ultimate Peripheral"˜Virtual Vices Like "Cyberprostitution" Suggest A New Paradigm To Regulate Online Expression, 14 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 779, 782-83 (1996)  

Akdeniz Y ŒThe Regulation of Pornography and Child Pornography on theInternet‚, 1997 (1) The Journal of Information, Law and Technology (JILT). http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/internet/97_1akdz/  

Peter P. Swire, Markets, Self-Regulation, and Government Enforcement in the Protection of Personal Information http://www.osu.edu/units/law/swire.htm (visited 3/5/98).  

IV. Problems with Self-Regulation  

Antitrust  

David A. Gottardo, Commercialism and the Downfall of Internet Self Governance: an Application of Antitrust Law, 16 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 125, 129-30 (1997) (Warning that Internet companies, "under the guise of an association promoting standardized Internet regulation, may promulgate and enforce Internet rules designed to harm on-line competition.") 

For further  discussion of Antitrust and boycott law, see Robert Heidt,  Industry Self-Regulation and the Useless Concept 'Group Boycott,' 39 Vand. L. Rev. 1507 (1986); David E. Ledman, Northwest Wholesale: Group Boycott Analysis and a Role for Procedural Safeguards in Industrial Self-Regulation, 47 Ohio St. L.J. 729 (1986) 

Federal Trade Commission,  Self-Regulation and Antitrust: FTC Chairman Lays out How Self-Regulatory Efforts Can Avoid Antitrust Challenge,  February 18, 1998  http://www.ftc.gov/opa/9802/selfreg.htm  

Other  

John Goldring, Netting the Cybershark:  Consumer Protection, Cyberspace, the Nation-State, and Democracy in Borders in Cyberspace 322 (Brian Kahin and Charles Nesson eds. 1997) (Self imposed regulations are only effective if poeple follow them. Predators, by definition, do not follow the rules.  Also, the lex mercatoria, and other contractually based methods of self-regulation depend on an existing legal system to undergird their agreements.  Without resort to the legal system, why should they honor their contracts?)  See Lex Mercatoria