In 1996 the number jumped to 12.8 million, and in 1997 the number of host computers connected to the Net reached 19.5 million. The Internet 1996, Internet World, Dec. 1996, at 44, 46. It is unknown exactly how many people use the Internet. Claims that 20 million to 40 million people are connected to the Internet stem, in most cases, from Lottor's survey. They are based on a rough rule of thumb guessing the number of users of a connected host.
Technology never stops changing.
And in doing so, undermines it's own legitimacy. To avoid this, the Court should endeavor to place new technologies into an appropriate established category. To do so would afford emerging channels of speech a solid foundation upon which to base legislation and subsequent court decisions. The public forum doctrine occupies a central role in the concept of democratic government. It invokes the image of a speaker standing on his soapbox eloquently and convincingly asserting that those in power should be recalled from their elected offices, with those agents looking on, powerless to silence the agitator.