From: Jason W Solinsky <solman@MIT.EDU>
Date: Sun, 21 Aug 94 19:58:25 PDT
To: rishab@dxm.ernet.in
Subject: Re: Governing an information society - 3/4
In-Reply-To: <gate.JT4FRc1w165w@dxm.ernet.in>
Message-ID: <9408220257.AA08968@ua.MIT.EDU>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> There may also be 'civil' suits in cyberspace. Due to digitally signed, 
> undeniable contracts, these should be reduced to only those that involve a
> breach of contract, rather than a suspicion of invalidity.

I think that even this will be mitigated dramatically. In an information
economy there are relatively low bariers to obtaining cost information. I
would therefore expect cyberspatial contracts to ALWAYS have a breach clause 
built in. It is always possible that something isn't going to go right and
a breach will occur. With the superior cost information available in
cyberspace, it should make sense to include detailed information on the
costs of a breach to the various parties. This reduces the cost of
adjudication and enables both parties to more precisely hedge the risks
they take as they enter into the agreement.

JWS