Barlow, John Perry

1947–

Cyberspace Activist

John Perry Barlow is a leading commentator on a vast number of issues relating to cyberspace, including the legal issues of free speech and copyright, privacy, cryptography, and civil liberties, as well as various social and cultural aspects of digital life. As co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), he has fought numerous battles on behalf of cybercitizens against governmental and corporate attacks on various freedoms and rights. He is credited with applying the term “cyberspace,” taken from William Gibson's science-fiction novels, to digital networks that have become known as the Internet.

Born on October 3, 1947, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Barlow was the only child of Norman and Miriam Barlow. He spent his childhood on the family's 20,000-acre cattle ranch, and attended Fountain Valley Military Academy in Colorado Springs after being labeled a “troublemaker.” There, he wrote poetry, caused more trouble, and became friends with Bob Weir, future guitarist for the Grateful Dead. After graduation, he studied at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and graduated with a major in comparative religion in 1969.

After traveling in India, he began writing lyrics for the Grateful Dead. In 1971, he returned to his family ranch to care for his father, who died in 1972. After his father's death, he ran the family cattle ranch for 17 years, while still writing occasional lyrics for the Dead. He briefly followed his father, who had been a Republican state legislator, into politics, serving as Sublette County GOP chairman. In 1988, he sold the ranch and moved to Pinedale, Wyoming, with his wife, Elaine Parker, and three daughters. While living in Pinedale, Barlow began his online life, helping build the cybercommunities that were then emerging.

In July 1990, a series of raids by the U.S. Secret Service, collectively called Operation Sun Devil, caused an uproar in the online community. Most notably, officials charged that the Steve Jackson Games company was the recipient of an illegally copied computer file relating to BellSouth's 911 emergency system; the Secret Service obtained a warrant and seized all of the firm's computers. Delays caused by the seizure crippled Steve Jackson's business, and he was forced to lay off staff. Although the computers were eventually returned, data they contained had been deleted, and Jackson sought the help of civil-liberties groups who might argue the case that his free speech and privacy rights had been violated. When no one stepped forward, Barlow joined with Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation, and Internet pioneer John Gilmore to form the EFF and represent Steve Jackson Games.

The EFF has won several landmark decisions. In the Jackson case, the court decided in 1993 that electronic mail must be accorded the same protection as telephone calls, and that authorities must have a specific warrant before intercepting them; Jackson was awarded $50,000 in lost profits. The ruling in Bernstein vs. the U.S. Department of State, another case taken up by the EFF, decreed that written computer code is constitutionally protected speech (although this precedent has been complicated by subsequent decisions in other cases). More recently, the EFF has been involved with cases dealing with music copyright, trademark law, and anonymity relating to cyberspace.

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