The rise of the World Wide Web is challenging traditional
concepts of jurisdiction, governance, and sovereignty. Many
observers have praised the Internet for its ubiquitous and
"borderless" nature and argued that this global medium is
revolutionizing the nature of modern communications. Indeed, in the
universe of cyberspace there are no passports and geography is
often treated as a meaningless concept.
But does that mean traditional concepts of jurisdiction and
governance are obsolete? When legal disputes arise in cyberspace,
or when governments attempt to apply their legal standards or
cultural norms to the Internet, how are such matters to be
adjudicated?
Cultural norms and regulatory approaches vary from country to
country, as reflected in such policies as free speech and libel
standards, privacy policies, intellectual property, antitrust law,
domain name dispute resolution, and tax policy. In each of those
areas, policymakers have for years enacted myriad laws and
regulations for "realspace" that are now being directly challenged
by the rise of the parallel electronic universe known as
cyberspace.
Who is responsible for setting the standards in cyberspace? Is a
"U.N. for the Internet"or a multinational treaty appropriate? If
not, who's standards should govern cross-border cyber disputes? Are
different standards appropriate for cyberspace and "real" space?
Those questions are being posed with increasing frequency in the
emerging field of cyberspace law and constitute the guiding theme
this book's collection of essays.
Contributors include: Vinton Cerf, Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., Adam
Thierer, Rep. Christopher Cox, Jack L. Goldsmith, David G. Post,
Jonathan Zittrain, Michael Geist, Dan Burk, Bruce H. Kobayashi,
Larry Ribstein, Robert Corn-Revere, Kurt Wimmer, Michael Greve,
Fred Cate, Harold Feld, Eric P. Crampton, Donald J.
Boudreaux.
Press Release: Who Rules the Net?
