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archershipsBy Tom W. Bell
Alexandria, Virginia May,
1998
http://www.tomwbell.com/writings/FAH.html
"...The Internet has just begun to develop generic adjudication and alternative dispute resolution services to which, in contrast to the Real Name System, any mutually consenting parties can turn for help. These online [p. 13/p. 14] experiments promise to open up exciting new frontiers in polycentric law. A quick review of three such services, the Virtual Magistrate, Internet Neutral, and the Online Ombuds Office, illustrates this burgeoning trend.
The Virtual Magistrate is an on-line arbitration and fact-finding system designed to settle disputes involving Internet users, parties who complain that on-line conduct has harmed them, or (to the extent that complaints implicate them) system operators.[36] Its organizers, for the most part academics, have given careful thought to why Internet disputes call for special legal procedures. On the Internet, they explain,
People all over the world interact in real time and take actions that affect the rights, interests, and feelings of others. When conflicts arise over similar activities in the "real" world, regular courts are available to resolve resulting formal complaints. But the court system is too slow, too expensive, and too inaccessible to address all problems that arise on the Net. Also, with people from many countries communicating on the Net, traditional nation-based legal remedies are especially difficult to apply.[37]
The Virtual Magistrate Project has adopted procedures uniquely suited to Internet law. Filings and other communications normally take place solely via email; neither the parties nor their virtual magistrate need ever meet face-to-face. Indeed, they need not even leave their computer terminals! Proceedings move at the accelerated pace of [p. 14/p. 15] "Internet time," with decisions issuing within 72 hours of the receipt of a complaint.[38] Far from merely interpreting and applying State law to disputes, virtual magistrates examine the standards of network etiquette and applicable contracts to determine the evolving shape of Internet law.[39]
Another ADR project, Internet Neutral, demonstrates the diversity of polycentric legal services that have already taken root on the Internet.[40] In contrast to the Virtual Magistrate, Internet Neutral offers solely mediation and uses on-line chat rather than email to conduct proceedings.[41] It also, again in contrast to the Virtual Magistrate, operates on a for-profit basis.[42]
Yet another project, the Online Ombuds Office, offers mediation via email, at no charge, as part of non-profit experiment in developing Internet ADR programs.[43] Its most interesting work has yet to come. The Online Ombuds Office aims to develop a sophisticated interactive multimedia virtual environment, called "LegalSpace," to facilitate [p. 15/p. 16] online ADR.[44] If successful, LegalSpace will make polycentric legal services easy to use and instantly accessible for the millions (and counting) of netizens worldwide...."
Alexandria, Virginia May,
1998
http://www.tomwbell.com/writings/FAH.html
"...The Internet has just begun to develop generic adjudication and alternative dispute resolution services to which, in contrast to the Real Name System, any mutually consenting parties can turn for help. These online [p. 13/p. 14] experiments promise to open up exciting new frontiers in polycentric law. A quick review of three such services, the Virtual Magistrate, Internet Neutral, and the Online Ombuds Office, illustrates this burgeoning trend.
The Virtual Magistrate is an on-line arbitration and fact-finding system designed to settle disputes involving Internet users, parties who complain that on-line conduct has harmed them, or (to the extent that complaints implicate them) system operators.[36] Its organizers, for the most part academics, have given careful thought to why Internet disputes call for special legal procedures. On the Internet, they explain,
People all over the world interact in real time and take actions that affect the rights, interests, and feelings of others. When conflicts arise over similar activities in the "real" world, regular courts are available to resolve resulting formal complaints. But the court system is too slow, too expensive, and too inaccessible to address all problems that arise on the Net. Also, with people from many countries communicating on the Net, traditional nation-based legal remedies are especially difficult to apply.[37]
The Virtual Magistrate Project has adopted procedures uniquely suited to Internet law. Filings and other communications normally take place solely via email; neither the parties nor their virtual magistrate need ever meet face-to-face. Indeed, they need not even leave their computer terminals! Proceedings move at the accelerated pace of [p. 14/p. 15] "Internet time," with decisions issuing within 72 hours of the receipt of a complaint.[38] Far from merely interpreting and applying State law to disputes, virtual magistrates examine the standards of network etiquette and applicable contracts to determine the evolving shape of Internet law.[39]
Another ADR project, Internet Neutral, demonstrates the diversity of polycentric legal services that have already taken root on the Internet.[40] In contrast to the Virtual Magistrate, Internet Neutral offers solely mediation and uses on-line chat rather than email to conduct proceedings.[41] It also, again in contrast to the Virtual Magistrate, operates on a for-profit basis.[42]
Yet another project, the Online Ombuds Office, offers mediation via email, at no charge, as part of non-profit experiment in developing Internet ADR programs.[43] Its most interesting work has yet to come. The Online Ombuds Office aims to develop a sophisticated interactive multimedia virtual environment, called "LegalSpace," to facilitate [p. 15/p. 16] online ADR.[44] If successful, LegalSpace will make polycentric legal services easy to use and instantly accessible for the millions (and counting) of netizens worldwide...."