THE DAYS of “self regulation” of online conduct appear to be coming to an end. In addition to laws that have been enacted within the past few years, such as the Children’s Online Protection Act and the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, hundreds of bills designed to address Internet and technology issues were introduced in Congress in 2001.
Although most of these bills are still pending, Congress is showing an increasingly greater interest in taking a hands-on approach to the Internet. In the process, Congress appears to have moved from the “freedom” paradigm to the “control” paradigm when it comes to how the Internet should best evolve.
