About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

1998 Stan. Tech. L. Rev. 1 (1998)

handle is hein.journals/stantlr1998 and id is 1 raw text is: 











  _Stanford Technology Law Review





          Invoking Law as a Basis for Identity in

                                  Cyberspace


                               PHILIP GIORDANO*


                         1998 STAN. TECH. L. REV. 1 (1998)



                                  I. INTRODUCTION

     On Sunday morning, Ms. B. dials into Prodigy, then logs on to the Prayer
Line, a bulletin board storing messages from around the world. She scans a list of
the most recent entries: Learning how to lean; Let me pray for you; My father; My
mother's stroke; National day of prayer; Please pray Prayer for health; Ralph
needs prayer; The father's heart.1 These are the supplications of a group that has
come to pray together on the Internet.2 Another member, Reverend R. Stoddard,
observes that the Prayer Line is on the verge of developing a new formation of
the church that will be without any of the traditional accouterments of churches.
We won't have organs. We won't have buildings. What we will have is an elec-


     * J.D. 1997, Stanford Law School; currently practicing at the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division,
Washington, D.C. (philip.giordano@ usdoj.gov). The author would like to thank Professor Janet Halley for
her encouragement and enthusiasm for this project, and Carey Heckman, Lawrence Lessig, Beth Hollenberg
and Lara Moore for their comments.
     1 All Things Considered: Prayer Line Links On-L ine with Virtual Churd (NPR radio broadcast, June 19,
1995).
     2 Id. The Internet is a vast inter-connection of computer networks that communicate according to the
same rules and now span the globe. Internet Literacy Consultants, IL C Glossary of Internet Terms (last modi-
fied July 9, 1997) <http://wwwmatisse.net/files/glossary.html>. For up-to-date introductions to the Inter-
net, see Andy Johnson-Laird, The A natomy of the Internet Meets the Body qf Law 1-22 (1996) (report submitted to
the International Retreat Conference, Oct. 17-18, 1996, Monterey, Calif.) (published in part in THE
CYBERSPACE LAWYER, Sept. 1996); Adam Gaffin, EFF's Guide to the Internet v. 3.20 (last modified Dec. 11,
1996) <http://www.eff.org/pub/Net info/EFF Net Guide/netguide.eff> (explaining the Internet, email,
the Usenet, discussion groups and a variety of Internet utilities); J. Quarterman & S. Carl-Mitchell, RFC 1935:
Wliat is the Internet A nway? (last modified Apr. 1996) <http://ds.intemic.net/rfc/rfc1935.txt> ;E. Krol & E.
Hoffman, RFC 1462: FYI on What is the Internet? (last modified May 1993) <http://ds.intenic.net/rfc/
rfc1462.txt>; RFC 1958: A rditectural Principles of the Internet (last modified June 1996) <http://ds.intemic.net/
rfc/rfc1958.txt>; Tracy LaQuey, Tl Internet Companion: A Beinner's Guide to Global Neturking (2d ed. 1994)
<http://www.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/editinc/>. For an overview of the Intemet's history, see John
Adam, Geek Gods: How C berniuses Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf Turned A Pentagon Project into the Internet and Con-
noted the World, WASHINGTONIAN, Nov. 1996, at 66; Michael Hauben & Ronda Hauben, Netizens: On the
History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet (last modified Oct. 15, 1995) <http://www.columbia.edu/
~hauben/netbook>.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most