Barlow says he began to question "what [people]do in absence of the ability to enforce" laws--asis the case within Cyberspace.

In Cyberspace, the laws of the tangible worlddo not make a smooth transition, and a personalcode of ethics is a better method of maintainingdecency and order, Barlow says.

This optimistic view, that most people areinherently inclined towards honesty and decency,was also a large part of Barlow's focus in hisunsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in hishome state of Wyoming.

"Real conservatism, in my view, is a beliefthat people are essentially good--without theauthority of the state," he says. "[It is a] setof values which I associate with agriculturerather than industry...values of neighborliness,ethics, decency," where a community lives togetherwith a "shared adversity at stake."

This theme also runs throughout Barlow's studygroup, where he debates with anenthusiastically-engaged group of students andguest speakers about the degree of involvement thegovernment should have within Cyberspace, eachweek.

One recent week, the particular focus ofBarlow's study group was the "fair use" ofcopyright laws on the Internet.

One contentious issue was whether copyrightlaws should be remodeled to allow information tobe more accessible--including being placed on theInternet--so that information can be more readilyavailable to a greater number of people, and thusinspire new ideas.

Barlow speaks enthusiastically about hisexperience as an IOP fellow and says he is lookingforward to the possibility of being a fellow atthe Berkman Center for Internet and Society atHarvard Law School next year.

He says his primary reasons for wanting tobecome involved with the Berkman Center is to"exchange ideas" with the law school professorsthere, specifically Nesson, Lawrence Lessig andJonathan Zittrain.

In summing up his opinion of Harvard and histime as a fellow, Barlow says, "I was sopleasantly surprised at the self-effacement andwillingness [of the students] to listen carefully,and more than everything else, the alertness ofthe students. [It gives me a] great sense ofoptimism for the future.