Governance of Global Networks in the Light of Differing Local Values

Leviathan or Behemoth, Athens or Orwell, the end of the nation state or political power without limits – this is how differently global networks, and the Internet in particular, are perceived. Views differ fundamentally not only in the public debate. Academics are also divided in their judgement and forecasts. These divergent views must be taken into account in developing the policies and governance structures to facilitate and regulate high bandwidth communications, encryption, intellectual property protection, e-commerce and even web content. But an overarching issue that must be addressed in developing policies and structures is the public’s concern about the potential impact of the Net on the sustainability of differing local values. This is the perspective from which the present volume addresses the governance of global networks. The topics stretch from pornography and hate speech to culture, from privacy and freedom of information to democracy. For each of these topics, the volume looks at individual governance tools and how they are interrelated, be they legal or technical, public or private, or some hybrid mix.