Governing the Internet: The Emergence of an International Regime

Citation

Brisibe, T.C. (2002), "Governing the Internet: The Emergence of an International Regime", info, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 49-51. https://doi.org/10.1108/info.2002.4.2.49.2

This careful new study examines the processes by which various groups (government representatives, private industry, and groups of users/consumers/citizens) have effected co‐operation to create and implement rules and procedures for the operation of the Internet, within complex commercial and legal frameworks at the international level. By juxtaposition of these processes on the usual depiction of international relations as an anarchic activity and a consideration of the strength of basic elements of co‐operation, Franda traces the creation and evolution of management and governance arrangements enabling interconnection of geographically dispersed computer networks over much of the globe. Using the international relations discipline as a basis, he identifies and applies the three stages of international regime formation – agenda setting, negotiation and operationalization – to describe the development of the nascent international regime for the Internet.

He begins with a thorough description of the negotiation and implementation of technical standards and protocols (TCP/IP Protocol; Network Standards). Issues pertaining to Internet governance and management ranging from the creation of the National Science Foundation Network, to the emergence of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and its supporting organisations, are addressed in detail.

This is followed by an analysis of a number of activities in economy‐related areas seeking to create frameworks for global business, including:

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  attempts to develop international rules and procedures for conducting electronic commerce (EU – US perspectives);

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  building cooperative transnational arrangements for co‐ordinating various national data handling systems (EU – US Data Protection Agreements);

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  co‐ordinating a variety of different national Internet taxation policies (activities of the Global Business Dialogue on Electronic Commerce and the Organisation of Economic Co‐operation and Development);

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  establishing norms for Internet related international investment (EU, Central European Union and World Trade Organisation “WTO” perspectives);

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  and protecting intellectual property (role of the World Intellectual Property Organisation on trademarks, copyrights and patents and WTO on enforcement of Intellectual property rights) over the Internet on a worldwide basis.

Whilst Franda primarily covers areas of Internet development in which one can identify the shape of rudimentary regime principles and norms, some attention is also given to subject areas in which regime outlines are still inchoate and regime formation is at a much earlier stage of development. Thus, some of the challenges to both international law and various domestic legal systems resulting from widespread use of the Internet across national boundaries, particularly in matters involving personal privacy and questions of jurisdiction are discussed, in addition to an analysis of the potential impact of a number of proposals for building international co‐operation to protect Internet security worldwide.

Far from being a purely academic study, Franda’s book constitutes a unique contribution to the subject of Internet governance. It balances the application of international regime theory with valuable insight to the large number of varied processes and interests that continue to provide the dynamics for Internet regime formation and maintenance, leading the reader to a complete comprehension of how the International regime for the governance of the Internet has emerged.