Eugene Volokh

Personalization and privacy

84 August 2000/Vol. 43, No. 8 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM Many people don’t like to have others learn information about them. Ironically, those same people are usually quite happy to learn information about others, and sometimes resent it when legal barriers block them from learning such information. Nonetheless, when it comes to information about us, many believe we should have (in the words of various privacy advocates) a legal “right to control information about ourselves.” Do we currently have such a legal right to control the flow of information about ourselves by stopping others from speaking about us? The answer, as is typical in law, is “sometimes.” First, the one thing that’s not helpful here is to talk in general terms about our right to privacy. The Personalization and PRIVACY Eugene Volokh

Cheap speech and what it will do

CHEAP SPEECH ........................................... 1808 A. Music and the Electronic Music Databases .................... 1808 1. The New System .................................... 1808 a. What It Will Look Like ............................. 1808 b. Why It Will Look Like This .......................... 1810 2. How the New System Will Change What Is Available .......... 1814 3. Dealing with Information Overload ...................... 1815 4. Will Production Companies Go Along? .................... 1818 B. Books, Magazines, and Newspapers ......................... 1819

Deterring Speech: When Is It McCarthyism - When Is It Proper

What may government officials and other actors (businesses, organizations, or individuals) do to prevent speech that they think to be evil and dangerous? Some possible actions are uncontroversial; others clearly violate the First Amendment. But in between lie practices that are contested: May government officials argue that its political opponents are unwillingly helping evil? May private parties properly use their economic power to retaliate against those whose views they disapprove of? May the government subpoena library and bookstore records to help uncover a political criminals or terrorists identity? These practices may deter - even without legally prohibiting - certain kinds of speech, and they may even be intended to deter such speech. Yet not all deterrence of speech, especially through nongovernmental action, is improper. This essay briefly inquires when such practices really deserve to be labeled McCarthyism, and to be forbidden by the First Amendment, by statute, or by social norm.