Book Commentary What two online protests reveal about the Internet. Unveiling the Extraordinary Possibilities and Implicit Threats of Online Communication Lauren Jamieson Miami University Oxford, OH 45056 He had left the diary open on the table. DOWN WITHBIG BROTHERwas written all over it, in letters almost big enough to be read across the room. It was an inconceivablystupid thing to have done. (Orwell) In her 1997 Persuasion and Privacy in Cyberspace, Laura J. Gurak skillfully blends factual accounts of two online protests with broader, more theoretical inquiries on the very nature of electronic communication. The book is at once an analytical snapshot of recent online history and a speculative glimpse at the uncertain future of cyberspace communities. The two protests, both involving Internet privacy issues, serve as factual frameworks to propel Gurak's broader rhetorical discussions. Specifically, Gurak details the public outcries against the introduction of Lotus MarketPlace, designed to publicize American demographic information, and the proposal of the Clipper chip as the national encryption standard. In 1990, the Lotus Development Corporation proposed a direct-mail database that would contain the names, addresses, and buying trends of millions of Americans. In 1993, the Clinton administration announced plans for a standard
/lp/association-for-computing-machinery/unveiling-the-extraordinary-possibilities-and-implicit-threats-of-h02iZ5zB7d