With the advent of each generation of internet related innovation, there is always a fury of discussion over how much of ourselves we are exposing, both to known and unknown factors. From online shopping, to social networking sites, to private and government institutions offering a full range of services online, the often stated fear of having your entire identity available online is a not without validity. Issues of personal privacy and information security require oversight and mediation by a regulatory and judicial body, which, ironically, perpetuates the need for greater access to personal information. On the other hand, the proliferation of the internet has drastically changed the velocity of flow of ideas, goods/services, and people across borders. More than ever, the ease with which people are accessing various travel and financial services are allowing companies to dynamically forecast sales and adjust pricing, leading to a consumer driven economy that is not bounded by the traditional state borders. Concerns that the internet is eroding the traditional authority of the nation state has led countries to enact legislation and even directly interfere in citizen access to information online. I would like to explore the extent to which the nation states actual or perceived authority has been eroded by the internet. I will examine the ways in which nations are attempting to filter and limit access to various speech online and the types of speech that are being restricted. It would be especially interesting to see whether these filters are consistent with controls on other types of media within the country, which would be an indication of whether government control is contracting or expanding. Also of interest are the various national and international organizations and regulatory bodies that are arising in response to the need for regulation. In the end, I suspect that the need for order within societies will still outweigh individual rights, leading to the expansion of the nation states authority but tested in international forums.

This site seems to serve a similar purpose as the EFF site in that it provides frequent updates on the the state of the international internet governance dialogue. It defines many of the governance areas and updates followers of the site with current legislation on the subject. By its own definition:

Net Dialogue aims to promote transparency and informed debate on this international Internet governance by providing:

• Summaries of international rules and guidelines
• Information on organizations involved
• A conceptual framework for understanding the emerging system
• Links to further information
• Online discussion forums for public dialogue

 It seems to be a comprehensive introduction to my paper topic!

This book provides a good introduction to the legal climate for the development of the internet. The author urges for sensible legislation to regulate the internet and argues that there is a coming "tipping point" where legal pressures are tipping in balance of control.

This books was written in 2001. It would be interesting to read in hindsight whether the tipping point Biegel argued was coming has occurred, or how much of it he was able to predict.

I came across this book on the shelves as I was looking for the book on "Governing the Internet". The title intrigued me because the other course I am taking is on Globalization. I was hoping to gain a better understanding of the infrastructures and organizations that are being created to address the issue of an increasing interconnected world. Certainly the internet plays a large part in this Globalization process.

How to extract useful knowledge from the web for institutional decision making. How to ensure that the information is the most accurate possible? What are the benefits of a user interactive model of information exchange and update?

 

Beause the title is "Sovereignty" and because P. Decherney assigned for the class on internet regulation.

The article begins with an amusing anecdote about how the International Telecommunication Union (agency of the UN) contemplated a change of the "Internet" reference to a lowercase "i"internet. Although this seems a frivolous report, it signifies a greater interest in internet governance.

 This introduces some of the names of the discussion and serves as a starting point for further research into the parties involved in the decision making process.  --> Hamadoun Toure, David A. Gross

Representatives of over 100 countries agreed to leave the supervision of domain names (ICANN) unchanged. It also agreed to create a new international forum to give governments a voice in internet policy issues.

The new Internet Governance Forum would convene under the United Nations secretary Kofi Annan. What kinds of issues has this forum discussed? What is the organizational structure of it? 

 

UN and EU call for a "model of cooperation" so that the US can relinquish some of its control over the internet. How to reconcile the fundamentally "free" origins of the internet with the need to protect citizens in countries that may demand to exert more power over its access.

Tim Wu on cyberspace sovereignty.

Wikipedia list of keywords that are used to filter Chinese citizens' access to information.