The Communications Decency Act, unanimously struck down earlier this year by the Supreme Court, was "sort of a unique phenomenon" in the world of Web politics, said Joseph Reagle, policy analyst at the World Wide Web Consortium.

The kind of battle royal between government and netizens that took place over the act is not likely to occur in the coming year, Reagle said.

"Policy-makers are going to talk to technologists," Reagle said. "The marriage between policy makers and technologists is more mature."

Obscenity, privacy and encryption are some of the issues that still touch nerves in Congress.

But government and the public seem to be realizing that before legislation is prepared, the new world of the Internet needs to be understood.

The Internet Online Summit, to be held in December, addresses the same issue as the CDA: how to protect children from inappropriate material on the Internet.

The summit will bring together industry leaders, government officials, educators, law enforcement officials, and public interest and family advocates seeking common ground on the issue.

Christine Varney, a former Federal Trade Commission member who is chairing the summit, said the manner in which policy is hammered out will be more cooperative.

"That's what's exciting," she said.

 1. Dynamic HTML
 2. New Domains
 3. Metered Bandwidth
 4. Web-TV
 5. Rich Ads
 6. The Big Chill
 7. Middlemen
 8. Digital Detente
 9. Cybercommerce
10. Web standards

 1. Push
 2. Windows CE
 3. 56K
 4. Cable Modem
 5. Web-TV
 6. Net Magazines
 7. Apple's Demise
 8. Mac Clones
 9. E-Cash
10. Comdex '96