Regulation

In July of 1997, President William J. Clinton and Vice President Albert Gore, Jr. released a policy paper outlining the administration's position on electronic commerce. Entitled ( A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce) it addresses financial issues, legal issues, and market access issues. The proposals for facilitating the growth of electronic commerce on the Internet are based on five principles:

the private sector should lead the way;
world governments should avoid excessive restrictions on electronic commerce;
where government intervention is required it should be as simple and predictable as possible;
world governments should recognize that the Internet has qualities that make it unlike other forms of media;
electronic commerce on the Internet should be consistent across international borders.

However, no convenient maps denoting areas of responsibility and regulation exist for the Internet. The world of cyberspace is a new frontier without territorial borders. The increasing fast pace at which technology becomes available has caused new problems and new areas of conflict to arise. There is no international court to make or enforce laws in cyberspace. Cyberspace is somewhat like the commons areas defined by Garrett Hardin in his classic work The Tragedy of the Commons. The commons is an area owned by no specific person but enjoyed by all. The herdsmen of the commons seeks to maximize his gain by increasing his flock. He receives the proceeds of the sale of his animal and the deleterious aspect of overgrazing the commons is shared by the all the herdsmen that use the commons. Commercial interests on the Internet also seek to maximize their gain by increasing their share of the profits by more and more advertising without regard to what happens to the overall atmosphere of the Internet or to the world that the Internet user views as he or she surfs along. One more web site directed at capturing children interests by merging advertising with content, one more pop-up banner, one more piece of spam or scam, one more bit of information collected is acceptable for the producer, because the producer benefits. Hardin concluded that "Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons."

As educators we must develop ways of meeting these challenges in commercialization in our own "frontier" communities called schools. As educators our first line of defense is to decide what is acceptable in our community and more difficult to what degree is commercialization acceptable. This involves developing the following:

AUP's that are well defined
School policies that define standards for use of commercial sites and "free gifts"
Policies on firewalls, filtering software, and proxy servers
Curriculum that will make the students and teachers aware of the scams that are common on commercial sites and through spam emails
Curriculum that makes students aware of the process used by many sites to gather information, of techniques for remaining anonymous, and of the issues of privacy involved
Strategies for teachers to instruct students to differentiate between commercial ploys and educational content

In summary, the paper reiterates that a coordinated strategy is essential for government and private sector involvement. It will be necessary for all interested parties to coordinate their efforts so that regulations and efforts are not duplicated or contradictory. The private sector will need to provide leadership and deal as much as possible with the self-regulation of commerce on the Internet. We feel that commerce on the Internet can be of benefit to everyone if the private and public sectors work together appropriately.

Annotated WWW Resources for Regulation