Aspen Institute Internet Policy Project Report Assesses Next Generation of Key Internet Issues

Washington, D.C., March 1, 2002-The Aspen Institute today announced that its Communications and Society Program (C&S) is web-releasing a timely report concerning the difficult questions surrounding a state's control over the relationships among its citizens, citizens of other countries, and the Internet. Entitled "Rethinking Boundaries in Cyberspace," the publication is a product of the C&S Program's Internet Policy Project.

Co-written by Erez Kalir and Elliot E. Maxwell, the report is a synthesis of three days of conversations at the Aspen Institute among leading technologists, entrepreneurs, academicians, and policy makers looking at current trends in which states are seeking to extend their jurisdiction in cyberspace. The report also addresses the impact of the rise in "private governance" on the growth and development of the Internet.

"With uncommon perception, this report serves as a valuable roadmap for some of the most significant issues of Internet governance that we will be facing in the years ahead," said Charles M. Firestone, executive director of the C&S Program.

"Rethinking Boundaries in Cyberspace" is focused on the growth of government involvement in the Internet and, in particular, the implications of the exercise of extraterritorial reach by governments in areas such as privacy, taxation, content regulation, and the sales of goods or services over the Internet. Given the global nature of the Internet, who will make the rules governing these and other issues, and what values will underlie these rules? Will rules be made by local, national, or international authorities, by governmental bodies or by private-sector actors? These questions have even greater resonance in the post-September 11th environment as governments focus on security issues and seek to extend their jurisdiction worldwide in order to battle terrorism.

About the co-authors: Elliot Maxwell is an information and communications technology consultant focusing on the Internet and electronic commerce. He served as director of the Internet Policy Project and a senior fellow with the C&S Program in 2001. Previously, Maxwell was special advisor to the Secretary of Commerce for the Digital Economy in the Clinton administration. Erez Kalir was a special assistant to the General Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission and is currently a management consultant.

"Rethinking Boundaries in Cyberspace" is available online in PDF format at http://208.56.40.171/c&s/pdfs/rethinkcyberspace.pdf and will be available in print form in mid-March 2002. For more information about this report, or about the C&S Program, please contact Lisa Dauernheim at 202/736-2522 or at lisa.dauernheim@aspeninst.org.

The Communications and Society Program aims to promote integrated, thoughtful, values-based decision-making in the fields of communications, media, and information policy. Through roundtable discussions and the dissemination of conference materials, C&S draws the focus of both experts and the public at large to the implications of communications and information technologies on democratic institutions, individual behavior, instruments of commerce, and community life.

The Aspen Institute is an international non-profit organization dedicated to informed dialogue and inquiry on issues of global concern. Founded in 1950, it has pursued its mission of fostering enlightened leadership through seminars, policy studies and fellowship programs. The Institute is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Its international network includes partner Aspen Institutes in Berlin, Rome, Lyon and Tokyo, and leadership programs in Africa.