1、Unit 1：cyberspace ：if you dont love it ,leave it 信息空间：出入随愿1 something in the American psyche loves new frontiers. 美国人的内心深处具有一种酷爱探索新领域的气质。We hanker after wide-open spaces ;we like to explore ;we like to make rules but refuse to follow them .我们渴求宽敞的场地，我们喜欢探索，喜欢制定规章制度，却不愿去遵守。But in this age its hard to
2、 find a place where you can go and be yourself without worrying about he neighbours .在当今时代，却很难找到一块空间，可以供你任意驰骋，又不必担心影响 你的邻居。2 There is such a place : cyberspace . 确实有这样一个空间，那就是信息空间。Formerly a playground for computer fans ,cyberspace . Formely a playground for computer fans ,cyberspace now embraces ev
3、ery conceivable constituency : school children , flirtatious ,singles ,Hungarian-Americans, accountants .这里原本是计算机迷的游戏天地，但如今只要想像得到的各类人群应 有尽有，包括少年儿童、轻佻的单身汉、美籍匈牙利人、会计等。Can they all get along ?Or will our fear of kids surfing for dirty pictures behind their bedroom doors provoke a crackdown ?问题是他们都能和睦相处
4、吗?人们是否会因为害怕 孩子们躲在卧室里看网上的淫秽图片而将它封杀?3 The first order of business is to grasp what cyberspace is . 首先要解决的问题是，什么是信息空间。It might help to leave beind metaphors of highways and frontiers and to think instead of real estate . 我们可以抛开高速公路、前沿新领域等比喻，把信息空间看作一个巨 大的庄园。Real estate ,remember ,is an intellectual ,leg
5、al ,artificial environment constructed on top of land. 请记住，庄园是人们智慧的结晶，是合法的、人工营造的氛围，它建立在土地之上。Real estate recognizes the difference between parkland and shopping mall ,between red-light zone and school district ,between church ,state and drugstore . 在庄园里，公园和 商业中心、红灯区与学校、教堂与杂货店都能区分开来。4 in the same way
6、, you could think of cyberspace as a giant and unbounded world of virtual real estate . 你可以用同样的方法把信息空间想像为一个巨大的、无边无际的虚拟庄园。Some property is privatedly owned and rented out ; other property is common land ; some places are suitable for children , and others are best avoided by all citizens .其中有些房产为私人拥有
7、并已租出， 有些是公共场所；有的场所适合儿童出入，而有些地方人们最好避开。 Unfortunately ,its those places that are now capturing the popular imagination ,plaecs that offer bombmaking instructions ,pornography, advice on how to steal credit cards . 不幸的是，正是这些应该避开的地方使得人 们心向神往。这些地方教唆你如何制造炸弹、为你提供淫秽材料、告诉你如何窃取信用卡。They make cyberspace sound l
8、ike a nasty place . Good citizens jump to a conclusion : Better regulate it . 所有这些使信息空间听 起来像是一个十分肮脏的地方。5 But before using regulations to counter indecency ,it is fundamental to interpret the nature of cyberspace . 正直的公民纷纷作出这样的结论：最好对它严加管理。但是，在利用规章制度来反击下流之举之前，关键是从根本上理解信息空间的性质。 Cyberspace isnt a fronti
9、er where wicked people can grab unsuspecting children ,nor is it a giant television system that can beam offensive messages at unwilling viewers .恶棍并不能在信息空间抢 走毫无提防之心的儿童；信息空间也不像一台巨大的电视机，向不情愿的观众播放令人作呕的节目。 In this kind of real estate ,users have to choose where they visit ,what they see ,what they do .
10、Its optiona .在信息空间这 座庄园里，用户对他们所去之处、所见所闻、所做所为都要作出选择，一切都出于自愿。In other words,cyberspace is a voluntary destination -in reality ,many destinations .换句话说，信息空间是个 出入自便的地方，实际上，信息空间里有很多可去之处。You dont just get onto the Net ;you have to go someplace in particular . 人们不能盲目上网，必须带着具体的目标上网。That means that people ca
11、n choose where to go and what to see .这意味着 人们可以选择去哪个网址、看什么内容。Yes , community standards should be enforced ,but those standards set by cyberspace communities themselves ,not by the courts or by politicians in Washington . 不错，规章制度应该在群体内得以实施，但这些规章制度必须由信息空间 内各个群体自己来制定，而不是由法庭或华盛顿的政客们来制定。6 what makes cybe
12、rspace so alluring is precisely the way in which its different from shopping malls , television ,highways and other terrestrial jurisdictions. 信息空间之所以具有如此大的诱惑力，正是因为它不同于商场、电视、公路或地球上的其他地方。But lets define the territor: 那么，让我们 来描述一下这个空间。 7 First ,there are private e-malil conversations ,similar to the c
13、onversations you have over the teleophone . These are private and consensualand require no regulation at all . 首先，信息空间里人与人之间可以进行电子邮件交流。这种交流类似于电话交谈，都是私 人之间的、两相情愿的谈话，不需要任何规章制度加以限制。8 Second , there are information and entertainment services , where people can download anytihing from legal texts and lis
14、ts of great new restaurants to game software or dirty pictures . 其次，信息空间提供信息与娱乐服务。人们可以从中下载各种信息，从法律文件、 “大型新饭店”名单，到游戏软 件、下流图片，无奇不有。These places are like bookstores ,malls and movie houses -places where you go to buy something . 这里如同书店、商场和电影院，属购物区域。The customer needs to request an item or sign up for a
15、 subscription; stuff (especially pornography ) is not sent out to people who dont ask for it .顾客必须通过索求或者登记来购物，物品(特 别是淫秽之物)不会发送给那些没有索取的人。Some of these services are free or included as part of a broader service like ComputerServe or America Online ; 有些服务可以免费，或作为总服务费用的一部分计算，如“计算机服 务”和“美国在线”就是如此。others
16、charge may and may bill their customers directly .而有些服务要向顾客收费，而且可能会让顾客直接支付账单。9 Third ,there are real communities -groups of people who communicate among themselves . 第三，信息空间里还有真正意义上的群体，那就是在内部互相交流思想的人群。 In real-estate terms ,theyre like bars or restaurants or bathhouses . Each active participate cont
17、ributes to a general conversation ,generally through posted messages . Other participant may simply listen or watch .从庄园的 角度来看，这些群体就像酒吧、饭店或公共浴室。每个活跃的人都积极参与谈话，谈话一般通过邮件方式进行；而有的人也许只充当旁观者或旁听者。Some services are supervised by a moderator ; others are more like bulletin boards -anyone is free to post anyth
18、ing . 有些活动由专人监督，有些则像公告牌，任何人可以任意在上面张贴。Many of these services started out unmoderated but are now imposing rules to keep out unwanted advertising ,extraneous discussions or increasingly rude participants . 很多活 动起初都无人监督，但现在实行强制管理，用规章制度来扫除那些不受欢迎的广告、不相干的讨论或日渐粗鲁的成员。10 cyberspace communitis evolve just the
19、 way terrestrial ommunities do : people with like-minded interests band together . 信息空间里群体的演变过程正如陆地社会团体的演变过程，即情趣相投的人们聚在一起。 Every cyberspace community has its own character .信息空间里每一个团体都各具特色。Overall , the communities on CompuServe tend t be more professsional ; 总的来说， “计算机服务”上的团体一般由专业技术人员组成；those on Am
20、ericaOnline , affluent young singles ; Prodigy family-oriented . 美国在线”上 的团体一般为富有的独身者；“奇才”主要面向家庭。Then there are independents like Echo ,a hip ,downtown New York service ,or womens Wire ,targeted to women who want to avoid the male culture prevalent elsewhere on the net.另外还有一些具有独到见解的服务机构， “共鸣”为其中之一， 是
21、纽约市中心一家时髦的服务机构。再如“妇女专线” ，是专为女性开辟的，她们希望逃避网上其他地方盛行的男性文化。On the internet itself there are lots of passionate non-commercial discussion groups on topics ranging from Hungarian politics (hungary Online ) copyright law .就因特网本身也有大量情绪激昂的讨论小组，都属非商业性质，讨论话题广泛，从匈牙利政治(匈牙利在线) 到版权法，无所不及。11 whats unique about cyber
22、space is that it allows communities of any size and kind to flourish ; 信息空间的独特之处在于允许任何规模、任何种类的团体发展繁荣。 in cyberspace ,communities are chosen by the users , not forced on them by accidents of geography . 在信息空间，用户自 愿参加任何团体，而不是因为地理位置的巧合而被迫参加某个团体。This freedom gives the rules that precise in cyberspace a
23、moral authority that rules in terrestrial environments dont have . 这种自由赋予主宰信息空间的准则一种道义上 的权威，这种权威是地球空间里的准则所没有的。Most people are stuck in the country of their birth, but if you dont like the rules of a given cyberspace community ,they can restrict their childrens access to it . 多数人呆在自己出生的国土上动弹不得，而在信息空间
24、，假若你 不喜欢某一群体的准则，脱离这个群体即可。出入自由。12 whats likely to happen in cyberspace is the formation of new communities ,free of the constraits that cause conflict on earth . 在信息空间，可能会发生的情况是形成新的群体，新群体的形成不像在地球上那样受到限制，产生冲突。Instead of a global village ,which is a nice dream but impossible to manage , well have inven
25、ted another world of self-contained communities that cater to their own members inclinations without interfering with anyonelses. 我们不是要建立一个梦寐以求、而又难以管理的全球村，而是要建立一个由各种独立的、不受外界 影响的群体组成的世界，这些群体将投其成员所好，而又不干涉他人。The possibility of a real market-style evolution of governance is at hand .一种真正的市场型管理模式很快成为可能。I
26、n cyberpace ,well be able to test and evolve rules governing wht needs to be governed -intellectual property ,content and access control , rules about privacy and free speech . 在信息空间，我们将能够检验并完善所需要的管理制度?知识产权制度、服务内容与使用权的控制制度、个人隐 私权与自由言论制度等。Some communities will allow anyone in ;others will restrict ac
27、cess to members who qualify on one basis or another . 有些群体允许任何人加入，而有些则只允许符合这样或那样条件的人加入。Those communites that prove self-sustaining will prosper (and perhaps grow and split into subsets with ever-more-particular interests and identities ) 能够自持的群体会兴旺发展(或许也会因为志趣与身份日趋特殊，而发展成为几个分支)。Those that cant surviv
28、e -either because people lose interest or get scared off -will simply wither away . 有些群体或因为成员失去兴趣，或因为成 员被吓跑而不能幸存下来，它们将渐渐萎缩消亡。13 in the near future ,explorers in cyberspace will need to get better at defining and identifying their communities .在不远的将来，信息空间的探索者应该更善于解释和辨别各群体的性质。 They will need to put in
29、 place -and accept -their own local governments apart from terrestrial governments ,just as the owners of expensive real estatet often have their own security guards though they can call in the police to get ride of undesirable customers . 除了现实中的政府之外，他们将有必 要安置并接受自己的地方政府，就如同豪华庄园的业主一样，尽管可以叫警察来驱逐不受欢迎的顾
30、客，但还是宁愿 雇佣自己的保安。14 then what shoul be done about undesirable material in cyberspace ? 那么，该如何处置信息空间不受欢迎的材料呢?What to do ,for instance ,about pornography . 例如，淫秽材料该怎么办?The answer is labeling ,besides banning ,questionable material .答案除了禁止 以外，就是在有问题的材料上贴上标签。it makes sense for cyberspace participants the
31、mselves to agree on a scheme for uestionable items ,so that people or automatic filters can avoid them . 信息空间的成员对有问题的内容应该达成共识，拿出一个解决方案来，使 人们或自动过滤系统避开这些内容，这样可能会有助于解决问题。Its easy enough for software manufacturers to build an automatioc filter that would prevent you or your child from ever seeing the un
32、desired item on a menu . (its as if all the items were wrapped , with labels on the wrapper.)软件制造商很容易建立一套自动过滤系统，使你 和孩子们在菜单上见不到不想见到的内容。(就好像所有的内容都被包装了起来，并在包装纸上贴有标签。)Someone who posted pornographic material under the title Kid-Fun could be sued for mislabeling .如果有人在色情材料上贴上“童趣”的标签，便可能会因错贴标签而被起诉。 15 Wit
33、hout a lot of fanfare , private enterprises and local groups are already producing a variety of labeling services ,along with kid-oriented sites like Kidlink and Kids Space . 一些私人组织和地方团体已经在不声不响地建立各种标签服务系统， 并建立了适合儿童的网站， “儿童连接” 如 、 “儿童空间”等。People differ in their tastes and values and can find services
34、 on the Net that suit them in the same way they select books and magazines . 具有不同品味和抱有不同价值观念的人如同挑选书刊、杂志一样，可以从网上挑选出适合自己的 服务机构。Or they can wonder freely if they prefer , making up their own itinerary .如果愿意，他们还可以在网上无拘无束地逍遥漫游，完成自己的旅程。16 In the end , our society needs to grow up . Growing up means unders
35、tanding thtat there are no perfect answers , no all-purpose solutions , no government sanctioned safe havens .总之，我们的社会需要发展，要发展就意味着我们必须明白，世上没有完美无缺的答案，没有能够解决各种问题 的妙方，没有政府认可的安全避难所。We havent created a perfect society on earth , and we wont have one in cyberspace either . 我们不能在地球上建立一个十全十美的社会，同样也不能在信息空间营造一 个这样的社会。 But at least we can have individual choice and individual responsibility . 但是至少我们可以有个人的选择?也有个人的责任。
