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1 – 10 of over 22000Stephen D. McDowell and Philip E. Steinberg
Explores a number of the debates and justification used to support and advance non‐state governance of the Internet in the USA. Reviews public reports released leading up to the…
Abstract
Explores a number of the debates and justification used to support and advance non‐state governance of the Internet in the USA. Reviews public reports released leading up to the formation of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Concludes that the scope herein is restricted to the jurisdictions and reasoning stated in the policy papers leading to the formation of the ICANN.
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between cybersecurity governance and internet governance and to explore the effects of the current tendency for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between cybersecurity governance and internet governance and to explore the effects of the current tendency for cybersecurity-related discourse to dominate and change the way we approach the established problems of internet governance.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper demonstrates the centrality of internet connectivity to any definition of cyberspace and to cybersecurity, which clarifies the way internet governance and cybersecurity governance are interdependent. Drawing on classic notions of a security dilemma, the paper also argues for distinguishing between national cybersecurity and societal cybersecurity.
Findings
Major structural features of the governance problem in cybersecurity and internet governance are analogous. Joint production of internet services and cybersecurity makes them heavily interdependent. This means that cybersecurity governance and internet governance models need to be compatible, and the approach we take to one will influence how we approach the other.
Originality/value
The interdependence of cybersecurity governance and internet governance has not been carefully examined before, and the relationship is not well understood. These two strands of thinking about cyberspace governance have not been properly connected. This paper bridges the gap and makes policymakers more aware of the potential tensions between a cybersecurity perspective and an internet governance perspective.
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The purpose of this paper is to understand the emerging challenges of cybersecurity governance by analyzing the internet’s early history.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the emerging challenges of cybersecurity governance by analyzing the internet’s early history.
Design/methodology/approach
Tracing the design and management of early internet and network security technologies in the USA in the 1970s and 1980s.
Findings
The US Department of Defense separated the research and management regimes for networks and network security, with the latter restricted to military networks. As such, the absence of cybersecurity technologies on the early internet was not an oversight, but a necessary compromise. This ordering of networks and security had enduring technological, political and even cultural consequences, which are breaking down today.
Social implications
Political, technological and metaphoric distinctions between networks and security should be challenged; cybersecurity will transform internet governance.
Originality/value
New historical sources and analysis provide a novel perspective on contemporary challenges of cybersecurity governance.
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The rate of urbanisation in China has accelerated community heterogeneity, and yet it has also led to challenges and problems in community governance. This trend has been…
Abstract
Purpose
The rate of urbanisation in China has accelerated community heterogeneity, and yet it has also led to challenges and problems in community governance. This trend has been accompanied by the rapid expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) and online activities. Based on the example of Jiangqiao Township in Shanghai, this paper aims to probe the link between online participation using the internet and its impacts on social capital formation and community development.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was conducted, and a case study method based on quantitative data was applied to test the theoretical framework in the interactions of users’ online participation and perceptions of community governance.
Findings
Participation in an online community through the internet was found to foster new social capital. Distributed social capital had a positive impact on perceptions of governance at the community level, which was due to the resulting network density and social trust of the locality.
Originality/value
This study offers an expanded perspective on the impact of the internet on the behaviour of netizens in China in the context of community governance in new settlements and townships. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is interesting to investigate how the use of mass communication channels, such as the internet and other digital platforms, affects social behaviour and generates new social norms. This study offers quantitative evidence from China to support the theory of Putnam (1993; 1995a). It thus extends beyond the field of sociology to the fields of public administration and urban development.
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This article aims to present an analysis of ideas and practices regarding governance of and by the network design process by participants in the technical design process during…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to present an analysis of ideas and practices regarding governance of and by the network design process by participants in the technical design process during the first decade (1969-1979) as recorded in the technical document series that provides both the medium for and the history of that design process, the Internet RFCs.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted via a comprehensive inductive and adductive reading of all of the publicly available documents in the series from its launch in October of 1969 through the close of 1979.
Findings
The findings show that internet designers were well aware that the infrastructure they were building was social as well as technical in nature. They were concerned about both governmental constraints on the design process (governance of) and about how protocol compliance could be achieved (governance by the network design process). As do informational states, network designers developed governance tools that affected the identity, structure, borders, and change in social, informational, and technological systems. The dual faces of network governance reveal tensions between the network political and the geopolitical.
Originality/value
This work contributes to our understanding of the interactions between the social and the technical in the course of the internet design process as it was expressed in concerns about governance by others and of others brought up in the course of resolving technical design problems. Methodologically, the research provides a model of one approach to analyzing the development of governance mechanisms and specific policies along sociotechnical boundaries.
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In Latin America, digital trade is still a marginal issue in the internet policy and governance debate, as well as in the trade regime. However, there are signs that this is…
Abstract
Purpose
In Latin America, digital trade is still a marginal issue in the internet policy and governance debate, as well as in the trade regime. However, there are signs that this is beginning to change. This paper aims to discuss why this is changing and how, against the backdrop of the internet governance field.
Design/methodology/approach
The research has used a mixed methods approach based on interviews and participant observation in one regional process, as well as an extensive literature review and document analysis.
Findings
There is a current scenario for expanding the digital trade agenda in the regional commercial blocs with the aim of rapidly incorporating them to a process of digitization that will be challenging their economic foundations. The tangibility of the impact of the expanding digital economy is much more prevalent than other internet governance debates, and these initiatives seem to be adopting a pragmatic approach, rather than questioning the existing rules that govern the trade and the internet regimes. There are significant challenges emerging from a fragmented institutional background for trade-related policy in the region and the digital single market might be one of the solutions. Finally, domestic coordination among competing laws regarding data protection and their enforcement without conflicting with cross border data flows will be a challenge to be addressed.
Originality/value
There is a lack of evidence-based research on the subject in the region. Many of the accounts stem from normative perspectives (many from scholars with legal backgrounds). This paper explores the connections between the internet governance regime and the emerging digital trade based on existing policies and processes.
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The purpose of this paper is to review the extent and the manner in which internet governance systems could and do engage with the problems of potential and actual corruption.…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the extent and the manner in which internet governance systems could and do engage with the problems of potential and actual corruption.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of internet multistakeholder systems and their compatibility with global best practice in countering corruption.
Findings
The multistakeholder systems contain systemic weaknesses, exposing them to risks of corruption and capture that would be very difficult to identify and eradicate.
Practical implications
A number of opportunities are identified to improve resilience of internet multistakeholder systems against the dangers of capture and corruption.
Originality/value
There is no research published on this topic.
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The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of key issues and concepts related to discussions of the internet, its governance, and its multi-stakeholder model.…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of key issues and concepts related to discussions of the internet, its governance, and its multi-stakeholder model.
Design/methodology/approach
The method adopted is to discuss definitions of internet, to identify the key characteristics of internet, to define the multi-stakeholder approach, and to discuss the results it has achieved.
Findings
The article finds that the internet is different from other networks, albeit not exactly in the ways that are commonly mentioned, and it finds that the internet's current governance mechanisms can be improved, in particular by increasing the role of more traditional governance mechanisms such as intergovernmental organizations.
Originality/value
The analysis and conclusions are not found in previous literature, and they are meant to provoke further research and discussion.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the corporate governance information disclosed by Spanish listed companies on the internet, with the objective of assessing the extent and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the corporate governance information disclosed by Spanish listed companies on the internet, with the objective of assessing the extent and the influence of several corporate characteristics on the level of information voluntarily disclosed.
Design/methodology/approach
The study took as its reference the existing literature on the examination of the quality of web sites and the importance of content as a key variable in determining web site quality. To quantify the corporate governance information disclosed by Spanish listed companies, three transparency indexes were designed. To contrast which variables determine the information provided online, the investigation based itself on studies about voluntary disclosure in companies, and three lineal regressions models and an ANOVA analysis were performed.
Findings
The empirical evidence obtained reveals that the firms that score highest for transparency are also those that are most likely to use the internet as a channel for the disclosure of corporate governance information. The results show that disclosure levels depend on the degree to which firms are followed by analysts, their listing age, their “visibility” and the fact of belonging to the communications and information services industry.
Practical implications
The need for this study was clear in view of the increasing interest shown by supervisory authorities for the oversight of the European and US capital markets in regulating not only the content but also the manner in which corporate governance information is disclosed over the internet. During the coming years, regulatory stock market agencies will have to strive to take advantage of the opportunities that the internet offers to increase both the relational and informational capacity of company web sites.
Originality/value
Corporate governance research has focused mainly on the analysis of the information that firms ought to disclose and the effects of disclosure generally, without considering the media involved. This paper suggests a new approach that examines the relevance of technology, particularly the internet, and orients supervisory authorities in the direction to follow for improving corporate governance transparency in listed companies.
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Puts ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) into a broader political and legal context, and asks whether the new Internet corporation could be seen as a…
Abstract
Puts ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) into a broader political and legal context, and asks whether the new Internet corporation could be seen as a political pilot project which explores the feasibility of a global management and decision‐making system, based on a co‐regulatory model of a “new trilateralism”. Concludes the global knowledge‐based information society is dawning – but nobody can predict the future – the feeling of excitement spreads intangibly.
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