The original of his Treasons proceeded from the imagination of his heart; which imagination was in itself High-Treason, albeit the same proceeded not to any overt fact: and the heart being possessed with the abundance of his traitorous imagination, and not being able so to contain itself, burst forth in vile and traitorous Speeches, and from thence to horrible and heinous actions." (Excerpt from the Trial of Sir John Perrot, 1 How Str. Tr. 1315,1318 (1592))
In October 1994, when Abraham Jacob Alkhabaz, also known as Jake Baker, first posted "Gone Fishin"' on the Internet -the first in a series of graphic rape-murder short stories, he was merely a blip on the cyber-horizon. Since then, the case of Jake Baker has burgeoned into a full-scale debate on everything from online pornography and obscenity to the role of the First Amendment in the "virtual community". '
To explain the brouhaha over Baker, a 20-year old University of Michigan student, three factors should be considered. The first is the stories themselves sickeningly graphic tales of torture, rape and murder. Next is the medium over which the stories were distributed: the wanton world of Internet newsgroups. Lastly and most importantly, is the event that occurred on 9 January 1995. On that day, Baker posted yet another story, only this vignette featured the name of one of Baker's classmates.
The story caught the attention of a 1 &year old girl in Moscow, who found it so alarming she informed her father. Her father immediately contacted a colleague who was an alumnus of the University of MichiganThe alumnus complained to University of Michigan officials who commenced prompt action. Thus began a journey into the unchartered waters of cyberlaw, as the US federal government set out to make an example of Jake Baker in US District Court.