Cyber Rights : Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age (Hardcover)

by Mike Godwin (Author) "Pluralism is central to the design of our Constitution, and especially to the antimajoritarian guarantees of the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment..." (more)
Key Phrases: content faction, cyberporn cover story, community standards doctrine, First Amendment, Supreme Court, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Cyber Rights is an exceptionally rational and compelling account of the most explosive and controversial issues surrounding freedom in cyberspace. Author Mike Godwin is the well-known outspoken activist for online civil liberties and counsel to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). He's been directly involved in many of the news-making cases and offers cogent analysis of very thorny situations, such as:

• Time magazine's infamous "Cyberporn" issue, which featured a flawed study and which many believe was at least a partial cause for passage of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (later overturned);
• the case of Jake Baker, a college kid who distributed his stories about rape and torture in newsgroups, which resulted in his computer being confiscated by police;
• the Church of Scientology's line in the sand regarding intellectual property and the backlash against Scientology in online debates;
• the libel conflicts experienced by Net journalists Matt Drudge and Brock Meeks; and
• Philip Zimmerman's (the programmer who developed the encryption tool Pretty Good Privacy [PGP]) fight with the Clinton administration to allow the use of encryption software.

Godwin is a natural teacher, carefully describing each event and explaining the issues surrounding it. Unlike many writers, he shows that he thoroughly understands the arguments for restricting speech. He then methodically takes the arguments apart, covering what is normally boring legal theory and explaining it in a lively manner so that readers are drawn into the story.

This book differs from other books on the topic in two ways: it's entertaining and it's a personal account. It's obvious that Godwin enjoys telling his stories, and he passes his enthusiasm on to readers. Readers also get a sense of Godwin's personal involvement as he describes his role in exposing the erroneous study that was the basis of Time magazine's "cyberporn" scare. In his chapter on the court decision that overturned the Communications Decency Act of 1996, it's clear that Godwin's work for the EFF is not just his job, but his passion. --Elizabeth Lewis

From Publishers Weekly
With an unusually broad view of free speech, lawyer and advocate Godwin, counsel to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, brings his opinions to bear on a slate of Net-related First Amendment cases and policy issues. Citing examples ranging from the landmark Compuserve ruling, in which the court found that an Internet service provider was akin to a bookstore and not a publisher in its culpability for disseminating offensive speech, to the LaMacchia incident, a software piracy case that was ultimately dismissed, Godwin argues for less government intervention, displaying a Panglossian view of the Net's potential. In doing so, he frames nicely some of the issues raised by the encounter of the 200-year-old Bill of Rights and the cutting-edge Internet. But through much of his book Godwin sounds defensive, and his polemics often trump nuanced analysis. By the time he gets to discussing the notorious Time magazine expose on cyberporn, criticizing the magazine for buying into hype, his arguments have become predictable?or flimsy, as when he implies that the Net poses no new risks with its dissemination of dangerous information, such as bomb-making instructions, because libraries have carried such information for years. Godwin's book is a thoughtful examination of an important subject, but its thoughts seem too often filtered through rose-colored screens. Editor, Tracy Smith; agent, General Median.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business; 1st ed edition (June 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812928342
• ISBN-13: 978-0812928341
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,553,284 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not rigid or bone dry, August 30, 1998

By A Customer

I meant to identify myself by name as the media critic and author above..I'm Jon Katz and have written both for Wired and Hotwired. Godwin understands very well how much of fight it's been for the Net and the Web to remain free. That alone makes the book readable and important. This kind of freedom is always a fight, and Godwin's book an important tool in that fight. And I'm not a friend of his. I've exchanged some e-mails, but never met him. It's a very important and valuable book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A keeper, October 1, 1998

By A Customer

Possibly the best book on cyberspace legal and social issues I've ever read.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A retread of old news, February 7, 1999

By A Customer

Godwin's book is basically a rehash of previously published work. Pages 171-176, for example, were originally published in an Internet World column, though he acknowledges that nowhere. In fact, the entire book consists of such retread material spliced together, sometimes seamlessly, sometimes not. Many readers who haven't followed the free speech wars won't recognize this; they may simply wonder why the book is occasionally disjointed for no apparent reason. The other significant flaw in the book is that it stops with the CDA decision, in June 1997. For a book published in late 1998, it could have covered later material, especially since most of the book was cut-and-paste rather than new writing. It's a reasonable introduction to the censorship wars on the internet for readers which are completely unfamiliar with the history; but as for me, I'm pleased that I checked this book out from the library rather than purchasing it. -- Michael Sims