The Internet is a system of computer networks that allows individuals

This passage was adapted from an article published in 1996.

The Internet is a system of computer networks
that allows individuals and organizations to
communicate freely with other Internet users
throughout the world. As a result, an astonishing
(5) variety of information is able to flow unimpeded
across national and other political borders, presenting
serious difficulties for traditional approaches to
legislation and law enforcement, to which such
borders are crucial.

(10) Control over physical space and the objects
located in it is a defining attribute of sovereignty.
Lawmaking presupposes some mechanism for
enforcement, i.e., the ability to control violations. But
jurisdictions cannot control the information and
(15) transactions flowing across their borders via the
Internet. For example, a government might seek to
intercept transmissions that propagate the kinds of
consumer fraud that it regulates within its jurisdiction.
But the volume of electronic communications
(20) crossing its territorial boundaries is too great to allow
for effective control over individual transmissions. In
order to deny its citizens access to specific materials,
a government would thus have to prevent them from
using the Internet altogether. Such a draconian
(25) measure would almost certainly be extremely
unpopular, since most affected citizens would
probably feel that the benefits of using the Internet
decidedly outweigh the risks.

One legal domain that is especially sensitive to
(30) geographical considerations is that governing
trademarks. There is no global registration of
trademarks; international protection requires
registration in each country. Moreover, within a
country, the same name can sometimes be used
(35) proprietarily by businesses of different kinds in the
same locality, or by businesses of the same kind in
different localities, on the grounds that use of the
trademark by one such business does not affect the
others. But with the advent of the Internet, a business
(40) name can be displayed in such a way as to be
accessible from any computer connected to the
Internet anywhere in the world. Should such a display
advertising a restaurant in Norway be deemed to
infringe a trademark in Brazil just because it can be
(45) accessed freely from Brazil? It is not clear that any
particular country’s trademark authorities possess, or
should possess, jurisdiction over such displays.
Otherwise, any use of a trademark on the Internet
could be subject to the jurisdiction of every country
(50) simultaneously.

The Internet also gives rise to situations in which
regulation is needed but cannot be provided within
the existing framework. For example, electronic
communications, which may pass through many
(55) different territorial jurisdictions, pose perplexing new
questions about the nature and adequacy of privacy
protections. Should French officials have lawful
access to messages traveling via the Internet from
Canada to Japan? This is just one among many
(60) questions that collectively challenge the notion that
the Internet can be effectively controlled by the
existing system of territorial jurisdictions.

1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

(A) The high-volume, global nature of activity on the Internet undermines the feasibility of controlling it through legal frameworks that presuppose geographic boundaries.
(B) The system of Internet communications simultaneously promotes and weakens the power of national governments to control their citizens’ speech and financial transactions.
(C) People value the benefits of their participation on the Internet so highly that they would strongly oppose any government efforts to regulate their Internet activity.
(D) Internet communications are responsible for a substantial increase in the volume and severity of global crime.
(E) Current Internet usage and its future expansion pose a clear threat to the internal political stability of many nations.

2. The author mentions French officials in connection with messages traveling between Canada and Japan (lines 57–59) primarily to

(A) emphasize that the Internet allows data to be made available to users worldwide
(B) illustrate the range of languages that might be used on the Internet
(C) provide an example of a regulatory problem arising when an electronic communication intended for a particular destination passes through intermediate jurisdictions
(D) show why any use of a trademark on the Internet could be subject to the jurisdiction of every country simultaneously
(E) highlight the kind of international cooperation that made the Internet possible

3. According to the passage, which one of the following is an essential property of political sovereignty?

(A) control over business enterprises operating across territorial boundaries
(B) authority over communicative exchanges occurring within a specified jurisdiction
(C) power to regulate trademarks throughout a circumscribed geographic region
(D) control over the entities included within a designated physical space
(E) authority over all commercial transactions involving any of its citizens

4. Which one of the following words employed by the author in the second paragraph is most indicative of the author’s attitude toward any hypothetical measure a government might enact to deny its citizens access to the Internet?

(A) benefits
(B) decidedly
(C) unpopular
(D) draconian
(E) risks

5. What is the main purpose of the fourth paragraph?

(A) to call into question the relevance of the argument provided in the second paragraph
(B) to provide a practical illustration that questions the general claim made in the first paragraph
(C) to summarize the arguments provided in the second and third paragraphs
(D) to continue the argument that begins in the third paragraph
(E) to provide an additional argument in support of the general claim made in the first paragraph