Is Online Mediation the Way to Fit the Forum to the Fuss?

Abstract

Traditional mediation is conducted in person with all affected parties at a physical ‘table’ with a session is orchestrated by the mediator with the parties and their representatives, often utilizing both joint and caucus sessions. Techniques as subtle as non-verbal cues, and techniques as overt as removing one party from the mediation room can be used. Online dispute resolution (ODR) takes place in ‘cyberspace’, described by the US Supreme Court as the virtual world ‘located in no particular geographic location but available to anyone, anywhere in the world, with access to the Internet’ (Reno v. Aclu, 521 U.S. 844, 849 (1997). ODR differs from traditional mediation in at least three ways relating to the formation and resolution of disputes. It represents a virtual community which deconstructs time, space, and the physical. Because it eliminates and changes boundaries it is important to rethink the traditional paradigms for resolving conflict and create opportunities for design of an interest-based dispute resolution model for the internet. This article discusses the differences between traditional mediation and ODR and with an online mediation conducted like traditional mediation, in which a neutral human third party facilitates discussions between the parties and helps them reach a voluntary settlement.