During times of technological change, the interpretation of constitutional protections, such as the First Amendment, is normally developed by a long litigation process with case law being developed and further interpreted … The environment to be created by the NII suggests that the models implicit in case law may need to be revisited … The speed with which these issues are faced will affect the growth of the NII culture. Decisions that are excessively restrictive may slow it down or change its nature. A balance must be found between the rights of the operators and those of the users.
Predictor: National Research Council
Prediction, in context:In 1994, the NRENaissance Committee, appointed by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council, produced a special report titled “Realizing the Information Future: The Internet and Beyond.” Among the committee members were Internet pioneers Leonard Kleinrock, David Clark, David Farber, Lawrence Landweber and Robert Kahn. The committee’s goal was to “study issues raised by the shift to a larger, more truly national networking capability.” Among its statements about the blossoming of the National Information Infrastructure (NII) is this: ”During times of technological change, the interpretation of constitutional protections, such as the First Amendment, is normally developed by a long litigation process with case law being developed and further interpreted. Over the past 200 years this model has served us well primarily due to the relative slowness of technological change. The environment to be created by the NII suggests that the models implicit in case law may need to be revisited. A number of questions need to be addressed, for example, What is a bulletin board operator – a publisher, a book store owner, or a new type of enterprise? and, What are its liabilities and responsibilities with respect to the information it is custodian of? What are the responsibilities of the new unregulate d data carriers, including e-mail service providers, with respect to the material they carry? The speed with which these issues are faced will affect the growth of the NII culture. Decisions that are excessively restrictive may slow it down or change its nature. A balance must be found between the rights of the operators and those of the users.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Jurisdiction/Control
Name of publication: Realizing the Information Future: The Internet and Beyond
Title, headline, chapter name: Flow of Information
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://stills.nap.edu/html/rtif/
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney