Some column!—that’s what waddler one said

Honesty…let us work on it with all our malice and love.

—Nietzsche

Articles, weblogs, and related pieces by Andy Oram:

Most significant articles

Community documentation

A collection of the articles I have written since 2004 about web pages, forums, and other media used by users of technology to educate each other.

The Sap and the Syrup of the Information Age: Coping with Database Protection Laws

My most rigorous research work, published by three law journals and widely cited on the Internet (February 2000).

Gnutella and Freenet Represent True Technological Innovation;
The Value of Gnutella and Freenet

A pair of articles exploring the technical and policy implications of the technologies that led to a crystalization of new concepts under the term Peer to Peer (May 12, 2000).

Key Policy Issues To Watch In Telecom

A useful summary, widely circulated on the Internet, of issues in telephony and communications of interest to Internet users and professionals (January 14, 2000).

  • Questions on government participation
  • A compressed but extensive list of fundamental problems and challenges facing efforts at making government more transparent and fostering citizen participation (originally posted March 1, 2009).

    The Long View of Identity

    An overview of current trends in online identity, offering various contexts and philosophical models for defining and judging identity. (June 29, 2006).

    Reputation: where the personal and the participatory meet up

    A summary of the legal, business, and technological state of reputation, identity, and privacy (December 16, 2007).

    What are the chances for a free software cloud? Resolving the contradictions between web services, clouds, and open source

    A proposal for bringing together two trends commonly seen as contradictory--cloud computing and free software--with a goal of bringing out the potential of both (a series of five postings starting December 13, 2010).

    Characteristics of new media in the Internet age

    A speculative essay on new media emerging in the early 21st century, and their effect on society (October 8, 2006, later revised in light of public comments).

    Being online: identity, anonymity, and all things in between

    An examination of identity and privacy on the Internet in the light of leading writings in the field of identity (a series of eight postings starting December 17, 2009).

    The Meaning of Independence Day

    A short story containing an important literary message about free speech as well as a review of case law in the area (Web Review, June 29 and July 6, 2001).

    From P2P to Web Services: Addressing and Coordination and From P2P to Web Services: Trust

    A two-part article explaining the underlying needs shared by a range of modern applications, including Web Services, wireless networks, and instant messaging (April 7 and 14, 2004).

    The Ghosts of Internet Time

    Mostly fun, but also inspirational and cautionary (December 17, 1999; reprinted December 22, 2000).

    WTO + SDMI = NWO (New World Order)—And That Spells Trouble

    A broad critique of the interaction between regulation and technology, widely circulated (November 30, 1999).

    Where articles have appeared

    Most of the articles were originally published in one of the following forums:

    Finally, I have compiled a bibliography of my other articles on technical writing and training, most of which are not available electronically.

    List of articles (from most recent to least recent)


    Author’s home page