N ATIONS AROUND THE WORLD ARE IN THE

process of making fundamental decisions about the future of their systems of online communication. The public discussions taking place are revealed in the visions of the future that are being put forth. In the U.S., we have Vice President Al Gore using the metaphor of “electronic superhighways of the future ” and seeing a national and global information infra-structure as the means by which the U.S. will emerge tri-umphant in global economic competition. We have John Barlow, Mitch Kapor, and the Electronic Frontier Foun-dation using a highly gendered metaphor of the new fron-tier—cyberspace—in which thugs, overzealous sheriffs, and the pioneers of the 21st century are fighting it out. We have visions of a new form of democracy emergin