I’m off to California, so this blog may have to pause until April 23.

I’m going to Berkeley to give a talk at the Center for the Study of Law

and Society (co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology).

My title is "Building the Electronic Commons," and I

will be discussing ideas that I have described elsewhere

on this Website, as well as some new thoughts. This is my abstract:

Legal theorists like Lawrence Lessig, Yochai Benkler, and James Boyle

have defended various versions of a "commons" theory of cyberspace.

They argue for reforms that would considerably reduce property rights,

thereby returning the Internet to its orginal state of benign anarchy

while enhancing innovation and civil liberties online. I argue that

this vision is attractive but flawed. It is politically naive, since

majorities of voters and organized special interests have incentives

to undermine such an online commons. Also, this vision promotes innovation

and negative liberty to the exclusion of other values, including democratic

ones. However, there is another understanding of the "commons"

that is just as venerable and supported by rigorous theory. This is

the notion of a commons as a voluntary nonprofit association (or network

of such associations), governed by rules. I will discuss politically

realistic ways to enhance the role of such associations in cyberspace.

The talk is scheduled for Monday from 12:30-1:45. Details

here.