Like It or Not, Cyberspace Still Part of the Real World.

SOME people like to think of cyberspace as an actual place, complete with its own code of conduct and free from the limitations that apply anywhere else.

Me, I cringe at the word "cyberspace." The Internet is a computer network, not some alternate dimension. And the people and computers it links are very much a part of the ordinary world and all its ordinary rules.

Keep this in mind when considering the online equivalents of two basic American concepts: free speech and taxation. Although the Revolutionary War was fought over those very issues, many Americans seem to feel that the rules that stem from those battles can be undone by merely flipping on their PC and dialing a modem.

Let's start with speech. Federal courts have done a nice job reminding Congress that e-mail, Web sites and other forms of online speech deserve just as much First Amendment protection as anything the founding fathers might have put down with a quill and scroll. But they've sent mixed signals about speech posted anonymously, suggesting to civil libertarians and others that Web surfers should enjoy some special right to speak without being seen.

People who post flaming criticisms in chat rooms often are surprised to learn that their targets can ferret out their identity by serving a subpoena on their chat room host or Internet service provider. Companies stung by online criticism often use this technique to quiet their critics, eliciting protests from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and other public interest groups.

But these groups would be better off warning Web surfers that offline rules of slander and libel apply on the Internet as well. People post damaging untruths in chat rooms far more frequently than companies file frivolous lawsuits. And while the Supreme Court has protected individuals' right to speak anonymously, companies like Yahoo or America Online aren't obligated to provide anyone with a forum for doing so.

Companies that choose to fight for their users' anonymity will likely be rewarded with increased business from a grateful online community. But Net users should realize that such protection is a perk and not some online amendment to the Bill of Rights.

Taxing issues

Internet businesses, meanwhile, seem to think they have a right to compensation without taxation. The impression stems in part from a federal law that has imposed a moratorium on new Internet-related taxes. That moratorium is set to expire in October, though some members of Congress are trying to extend it indefinitely.

But the real problem isn't the lack of new taxes but the inability of state and local officials to collect an old one -- sales tax.

The Supreme Court has ruled that states can't force out-of-state businesses to collect sales tax on their behalf. That loophole allows online shoppers to check out of most online stores without paying the tax they'd owe for buying the very same items in their hometown.

Online retailers protest that they couldn't possibly comply with thousands of state and local taxes. But some online businesses are already doing it, and local authorities have offered to simplify their tax codes in hopes that holdouts like Amazon.com will start asking customers to collect them. They're willing to go this far because without the tax revenues they're losing to online stores, they'll have an even harder time paying for schools and roads needed to educate future online shoppers and carry them to work.

It seems silly to argue that one store shouldn't have to collect the same tax as a similar shop next door. But online stores think they deserve diplomatic immunity simply because they've got a ".com" painted on the front window. Congress can ban new taxes on Internet service, but it ought to do something to make sure governments can collect the ones that already exist.

E-commerce lobbyists will complain that sales tax will drive even more dot-coms into bankruptcy, and maybe they're right. But that's just one risk of doing business in the real world. And online businesses, despite what they might think, have been there all along.