• Selected
• Entire List

Abstract:
A future society will very likely have the technological ability and the motivation to create large numbers of completely realistic historical simulations and be able to overcome any ethical and legal obstacles to doing so. It is thus highly probable that we are a form of artificial intelligence inhabiting one of these simulations. To avoid stacking (i.e. simulations within simulations), the termination of these simulations is likely to be the point in history when the technology to create them first became widely available, (estimated to be 2050). Long range planning beyond this date would therefore be futile.

Historical simulation, virtual world, artificial intelligence, massively multiple online role-playing games, ethics of clinical research, Moore's Law

Abstract:
In the 21st century, traditional company towns like Chickasaw, Alabama, where a corporation steps into the shoes of the state for purposes of the First Amendment, are almost non-existent. This paper postulates that they have been replaced by Massively Multiple Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG's) such as EverQuest, The Sims Online and Second Life where many individuals have extensive social circles, own property, and even hold down virtual jobs. According to surveys, some of these individuals actually spend more time each week in the virtual world than pursuing basic real world activities such as working, eating and sleeping.

In 2004, one of these virtual worlds, There, entered into a contract with the US Army to create a full-scale, 1:1, virtual replica of the entire earth for purposes of combat simulations, known as the Asymmetric Warfare Environment (AWE). The paper hypothesizes a post-war scenario whereby this immense platform is transferred to private corporations in the same manner that the ARPANET, the military ancestor of the Internet, was devolved into private hands. This universal virtual world may become the successor to the Internet as we know it today and will become a place where the majority of us choose to shop, socialize and do business. The paper emphasizes that the case law on freedom of speech in MMORPG's will have a profound precedent setting effect on how the First Amendment is applied to this coming universal virtual platform, since the legal principles concerning new technologies tend to be set at an early stage of their development. If the right road is not taken, then we run the risk that the coming universal virtual world will be, from a freedom of speech perspective, a nightmarish endless global shopping mall, instead of an empowering enhancement of the real world with its boundless opportunities for encounters with those of differing viewpoints.

Internet, Virtual Worlds, Freedom of Speech, First Amendment, Massively Multiple Online Role Playing Games, Company Town

Abstract:
Part I of this paper examines the work of Cass Sunstein and others who are of the view that the Internet tends to create balkanization of opinion and fosters and supports extremist groups. Noah Zatz's proposal for an electronic sidewalk, (referred to in this paper as the cydewalk) is then evaluated in terms of how it may counteract these problems. Part II of the paper categorizes the academic writings on Internet regulation as four schools of thought: 1) The Secessionist Libertarians, 2) The Anti-Anarchists, 3) The Open-Source Regulators and 4) The Telecosmic Futurists. This part of the paper then shows how each school would likely view the cydewalk proposal, and what modifications it would make to it. Part III of the paper examines the trends in the U.S. and Canadian constitutional and labour relations jurisprudence and how they would affect the various models of the cydewalk posited by the four schools of thought. Part IV of the paper summarizes the potential problems with each variation of the cydewalk proposal. It indicates that the Telecosmic Futurists' preference for letting the marketplace govern the Internet would be the best paradigm, since employers and trade unions would mutually benefit from entering into cydewalk agreements.

Picketing, Leafleting, Internet, Labor Unions, Collective Bargaining, Cyber Commons, Cydewalk

Abstract:
Sunstein's argument in the original 2001 Republic.com and in this new 2007 version is that democracy requires a range of common experiences (social glue) and unanticipated exposure to diverse points of view, but that the Internet fails society on both counts. Sunstein believes that the Internet tends to create social fragmentation by encouraging individuals to sort themselves into deliberative enclaves of like-minded people and assisting them to filter out unwanted, opposing opinions. Republic.com 2.0 is much less than it could have been had the author cited opposing points of view more frequently, not been so US-centric, and considered recent uses of the Internet to enhance democracy, such as voter mobilization and politician voting record sites. The book would also have benefited considerably from a discussion of virtual worlds, such as Second Life. Sunstein should be given credit, however, for withdrawing the misguided policy proposal presented in the original 2001 Republic.com for legislation requiring cross-links between web sites of opposing viewpoints.

9/11, cross-linking, web 2.0, deliberative democracy, voter mobilization, political transparency, transaction costs, free speech, information aggregation, perfect filtering, virtual worlds.

Abstract:
Game theoretic analysis of international law has traditionally revolved around the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a model developed during the Cold War that reflects the general unenforceability of international agreements. Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) are, however, enforceable and require a different approach. The current global economic crisis will exacerbate the controversies concerning the broad powers exercised by the arbitrators appointed under BITs. It is thus imperative to explore a viable new game theoretic model, which can be provided by virtual worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft.

Virtual worlds, Prisoner's Dilemma, Game Theory, Bilateral Investment Treaties, End-User Licensing Agreement