Reading comp PrepTest 125 · Section 1 · Question 4

Topic: Legal

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Problem with legislating and policing the internet (traditional approaches rely on borders that aren't present with the internet)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • The internet allows free communication around the world, which presents serious difficulties to traditional approaches to legislation and law enforcement, which rely on borders and territorial jurisdictions (first and last sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "astonishing variety" (last sentence); "presenting serious difficulties for traditional approaches" (last sentence); "borders are crucial" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • More on the problem with policing a border-less internet (can't control the volume of information without banning internet) and consumer fraud example
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • Lawmaking requires control over objects and space to enforce laws, but lawmakers can't control the volume of information crossing borders with the internet — outside of the unpopular decision to completely ban the internet (second, third, fifth through last sentences)
  • Example of an enforcement problem, according to the author:
    • The government might want to regulate consumer fraud on the internet (fourth sentence)
  • Comparison, according to citizens:
    • The benefits of the internet are much larger than the risks (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "defining attribute" (first sentence); "presupposes" (second sentence); "cannot control" (third sentence); "too great to allow for effective control" (fifth sentence); "thus have to" (sixth sentence); "draconian" (last sentence); "almost certainly be extremely unpopular" (last sentence); "probably" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Problems with trademarks of the same name (unclear which jurisdiction can enforce trademark "infringement")
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • Any computer can access trademarked information from around the globe, which creates a problem because two countries can trademark the same names, and both names can be findable on the internet (first through last sentences)
  • Example of two countries that have trademarked the same name, according to the author:
    • Restaurant in Norway and business in Brazil (fifth sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "especially sensitive" (first sentence); "not clear" (sixth sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • More problems with the current system, electronic messages example (cross many borders — can all jurisdictions all access?)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Example of an additional problem with regulating the internet with the current system based on borders:
    • Electronic messages cross many borders, but can French officials look at Canada-to-Japan messages? (second and third sentences)
  • Author's view:
    • The electronic messages example is just one of many examples of problems with the current system based on borders (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "cannot be provided" (first sentence); "perplexing" (second sentence); "one among many questions" (last sentence); "challenge the notion" (last sentence)

Main Point: The global internet poses many problems for the traditional approach to legislation and enforcement, which relies on borders.

Problem/Solution: This passage best fits the Problem/Solution Meta-Structure. Typically, the author describes a major issue and potential solutions. In this passage, however, the author only focuses on the problem of regulating the internet using the traditional approach, which is based on borders and territorial jurisdictions. As the author points out, the internet doesn't have comparable borders — anyone can access the internet from anywhere. This asymmetry between the traditional approach and the internet creates a host of problems that the author enumerates in the second, third, and fourth sentences. (The author only brings up one solution — banning the internet — but immediately dismisses it as "draconian" and "unpopular." In other words, the author doesn't believe it's a solution at all. Really, that solution is a rhetorical one, not a solution anyone is actually proposing.)

In a Problem/Solution passage, the main point is typically the solution the author offers or supports. But without a real solution discussed, the main point of this passage is the author's opinion of the problem. The author summarizes their thoughts on the problem at the end of the first paragraph, so we can use that sentence for any question that requires us to think about the main point.

Example: The author brings up examples in each of the paragraphs to reflect the general point of each one, making the example the most prominent minor Meta-Structure in this passage. In the second paragraph, the author talks about enforcing consumer fraud laws as an example of the problem of trying to regulate the high volume of electronic communications crossing borders. In the third paragraph, the author uses the example of a name trademarked in both Norway and Brazil as an example of the problem of enforcing trademark violations on the internet. In the fourth paragraph, the author brings up whether French authorities can intercept a message sent from Canada to Japan as an example of privacy concerns. Since there are so many key examples, they'll likely show up in the questions.

When a passage has a disclaimer like this one (telling us that the passage is from 1996), it usually tells us that the information we're about to read is a little outdated. That disclaimer was necessary when this passage was released in 2008, and it's certainly necessary today. Try to forget, for a moment, what you know about the internet and the regulation thereof as you read the passage and answer the questions. We'll need to address the facts in the passage on their own terms.