What affect does today's information technology have on First Amendment issues?

"...what's old in our tradition is the notion that your right to speak and your right to hear and your right to assemble are all rights that are very jealously guarded in the Constitution. Basically what that tells us is that not only should we be concerned about the interpretation of the First Amendment into new arenas, which is somthing that I think we understand and take for granted, but that a whole set of policies around participation, such as universal service, are now extremely important policies, whereas before they probably weren't thought of in that way. But as the environment of access and participation itself changes technologically, policies that guarantee that access become very important social goals. So whereas before I think we thought of participation as strictly about free speech, we now think of particiation as about free speech, but also as about universal service and access. Somewhere in the next 20 years those two interpretations will increasingly be reconciled. And as they are reconciled, I'm predicting that First Amendment interests are going to emerge with a somewhat different focus - with a focus on participation and not strictly on voice."

How has our notion of privacy changed since the Constitution was drafted?

"The traditional 19th century notion of privacy is that which we read from Henry David Thoreau - it's the right to be left alone. I went off into the country and lived by myself in order to recapture myself and that meant being left alone. He wasn't concerned with what people knew about him, he was concerned that he not intrude into his space. And that is the notion of privacy with which the founders grappled with in the Constitution and that we entered the 20th century with. In the 20th century we begin to think of privacy somewhat differently. I am less concerned about being left alone, because I can do that in my own. I am more concerned with what people know about me, because what they know about me is increasingly potent. And so the 20th century mantra that information is power first orients itself towards privacy. And it is in the realm of privacy that we are now experiencing a great deal of experimentation..."

How have concepts of property ownership changed since the Consitution was drafted?

"In the same way that the settlers set out in the 19th century to stake out claims over every piece of land they could find in order to claim some of it and we're basically turning what had been non-owned land into owned land. Americans in the 20th century have run around staking claims on the information landscape. To claim information for themselves so they could turn around and profit. The most recent example of that is what I think of as the remarkable industry of domain name sales...the average amount of money as far as I can tell that corporations are offering for domain names is $10,000. Well, $10,000 for 10 domain names is not a bad days work. So in that regard we have a phenomonon comparable to that of the colonists and settlers. Here we have information colonists that are who are running around claiming the forests and staking out claims for themselves anew. And it raises questions of whether they should and shouldn't or whether they can and who is going to protect it. Where is the right place to dispose of conflict and what kinds of constraints can we place down so not only are rights preserved, but so that people know what kinds of constraints they are operating under and don't have to go to court every time to find out."

Are there any other important areas of information policy related to the Constitution that didn't get much coverage in the original project?

Towards and Information Bill of Rights and Responsibilities was one of a group of related projects supported by the Markle Foundation. What were the overall goals of the projects?

People who lack access to information technology usually have many other unmet basic needs. What importance should we place on access to information technology within a hierarchy of needs?

"This is an area of policy that has the potential for affecting other areas of need and because of that should be paid attention to... On top of that the goal of universal service is really a goal that enables three kinds of participation in American society which are at the very heart of the Constitution. That is political participation, economic and what I would call social participation or what the Constitution calls the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution is very clear that the purpose of a democratic form of government is to assist in political participation of as many as possible because sovereignty rests with the people. But it is equally clear that the purpose of a democratic form of government is to support an economy where everyone has equal opportunity to achieve something comprable with whatever their talents are."

Can you give an example of where an application of Constitutional principle can help inform a current policy debate (e-rate)?

How do ideas from your work inform public debates?

What kind of response have you seen so far from issues you have raised?

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