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3 Colum. Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 1 (2001-2002)
The Third Industrial Revolution: Policymaking for the Internet

handle is hein.journals/cstlr3 and id is 1 raw text is: THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: POLICYMAKING FOR THE INTERNET BRADFORD L. SMITH* Abstract: The Internet heralds the onset of a third industrial revolution, one based in technological advances in software, hardware and telecommunications. These technological advances are transforming commercial practices, generating substantial gains in productivity and opening new avenues for political and social expression. But like the industrial revolutions that preceded it, the Internet revolution raises difficult legal and social issues, which in turn have generated a growing body of laws and regulatory proposals. This article seeks to provide an analytic structure for addressing and resolving the legal and policy challenges raised by the Internet. It endorses the use of self-regulatory and other extra-legal solutions to these challenges, but argues that governments should establish a supportive regulatory framework and should ensure that proposed solutions ultimately represent the public interest. This approach also seeks to look beyond traditional notions of the public and private sectors' respective roles and to articulate a model that harnesses each sector's unique strengths and abilities in reaching viable, practical solutions to online problems. Four themes form the cornerstones of this approach: (1) liberal use of market- based solutions; (2) reliance on technology solutions for problems rooted in technology; (3) recognition of government's multi-faceted role in responding to online challenges; and (4) support for broader international harmonization of applicable rules. This article also examines two prominent schools of legal scholarship in this area and argues that, while each provides valuable insights into law's relationship to the Internet, neither position offers a compelling response to key online legal and policy issues. L Introduction Three times in the past 250 years the world has witnessed a major transformation affecting virtually every aspect of society. Founded on advances in science and fueled by innovations in technology, these industrial revolutions produced major leaps forward in human productivity and changed the way people work and interact with each other. By the time such a * Senior Vice President and incoming General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation. Columbia University School of Law, J.D. (1985); Institut Universitaire De Hautes Etudes Internationales, University of Geneva, Switzerland, Dipl6me program (1983-84); Princeton University, A.B. (1981). This article was prepared based on ideas initially explored in Bradford L. Smith, The Third Industrial Revolution: Law and Policy for the Internet, 282 RECUEIL DES COURS 229 (Martinus Nijhoff 2000). The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of Microsoft Corporation.

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