Stanford CIS

Colin Rule

Non-Residential Fellow

Colin Rule has worked at the intersection of technology and conflict resolution for the last two decades. He is CEO of Modria.com, an online dispute resolution service provider in Silicon Valley, and Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution at UMass-Amherst. From 2003 to 2011 he served as eBay and PayPal's first director of Online Dispute Resolution, designing and implementing systems that now resolve more than 60 million disputes each year.

Mr. Rule is the author of Online Dispute Resolution for Business, published by Jossey-Bass in September 2002. He has presented and trained around the world for organizations including the U.S. Department of State, UNCITRAL, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, as well as teaching at UMass-Amherst, Stanford, Southern Methodist University, and Hastings College of the Law. He has written and been interviewed extensively about the Internet since 1999, with columns and articles appearing in ACResolution, Consensus, Dispute Resolution Magazine, and Peace Review. He holds a master's degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in conflict resolution and technology, a B.A. in peace studies from Haverford College, and he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Eritrea from 1995-1997.

Recent articles

Blog

America's Vital Center

John Richardson for Esquire: "These days, the argument that Obama hasn't accomplished anything may be the only example of real bipartisanship in Americ…

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Noble / Nobel

Our President: "Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the wo…

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Breaking Congress

Ezra Klein interviewing Stenny Hoyer in the Washington Post: "This is a United States Senate that has had more cloture votes in one year than in the '…

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Shmeat

As long time readers know, I am a passionate advocate for in-vitro meat production.  Who knows if we'll see it in my lifetime -- even Winston Churchill said…

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Leaving the Right

Two very interesting posts on the interwebs from conservative voices this week. First, from Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs entitled "Why I part…

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Ungovernable

Tom Friedman in the NYT: "But while our culture of imagination is still vibrant, the other critical factor that still differentiates countries today — and…

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Voting with the remote

Jacob Weisberg in Newsweek: "Any news organization that took its responsibilities seriously would take pains to cover presidential criticism fairly. It wou…

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Don't Blow It

Bono in the NYT today: "The Nobel Peace Prize is the rest of the world saying, “Don’t blow it.” But that’s not just directed at Mr. Obama. It’s directed a…

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Dealing with FOX News as a political enemy

Gene Lyons on Salon: "Appearing on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” the White House’s Dunn made it clear that the Obama administration intends to deal with the ne…

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Happiness and healthiness are contagious

One of the more interesting results of the Framingham Heart Study: happiness and healthiness are contagious: "two years ago, a pair of social scientists n…