Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias

In Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias, Peter Ludlow extends
the approach he used so successfully in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier,
offering a collection of writings that reflects the eclectic nature of the online
world, as well as its tremendous energy and creativity. This time the subject is the
emergence of governance structures within online communities and the visions of
political sovereignty shaping some of those communities. Ludlow views virtual
communities as laboratories for conducting experiments in the construction of new
societies and governance structures. While many online experiments will fail, Ludlow
argues that given the synergy of the online world, new and superior governance
structures may emerge. Indeed, utopian visions are not out of place, provided that
we understand the new utopias to be fleeting localized "islands in the Net" and not
permanent institutions.The book is organized in five sections. The first section
considers the sovereignty of the Internet. The second section asks how widespread
access to resources such as Pretty Good Privacy and anonymous remailers allows the
possibility of "Crypto Anarchy"--essentially carving out space for activities that
lie outside the purview of nation states and other traditional powers. The third
section shows how the growth of e-commerce is raising questions of legal
jurisdiction and taxation for which the geographic boundaries of nation-states are
obsolete. The fourth section looks at specific experimental governance structures
evolved by online communities. The fifth section considers utopian and anti-utopian
visions for cyberspace.Contributors Richard Barbrook, John Perry Barlow, William E.
Baugh Jr., David S. Bennahum, Hakim Bey, David Brin, Andy Cameron, Dorothy E.
Denning, Mark Dery, Kevin Doyle, Duncan Frissell, Eric Hughes, Karrie Jacobs, David
Johnson, Peter Ludlow, Timothy C. May, Jennifer L. Mnookin, Nathan Newman, David G.
Post, Jedediah S. Purdy, Charles J. Stivale.