Negative externalities on the Internet: the case of recombinant bovine somatotropin

Emerging public usage of networked electronic information systems engenders the capacity for a new form of journalism based on transparent referral. Especially relevant to controversial issues such as environmental quality, transparent referral is a method of establishing credibility to the reader in the absence of other cues. When a private entity benefits from a common good, negative externalities can be imposed on the general public. Externalities can also arise from inadequate understanding of the costs of an exchange. In the absence or neglect of an individual sovereign, community property regimes can form. There are several unresolved health, veterinary and economic concerns associated with the implementation of recombinant bovine somatropin (a genetically engineered analogue of the naturally occurring bovine somatotropin injected into dairy cows in order to increase milk production). The suppression of information through legal means in traditional broadcast media concerning externalities has led to an Internet campaign by two journalists. Their campaign is evaluated in terms of the formation of community property regimes.