Internet governance : the new frontier of global institutions / John Mathiason.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mathiason, John, 1942-

Contributor:

Class of 1932 Fund.

Series:

Global institutions series

Routledge global institutions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Internet--Government policy.

Internet.

Internet governance.

Physical Description:

xix, 178 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2009.

Summary:

International institutions are evolving quickly as innovative approaches need to be adopted in order to deal with global problems that cannot be successfully addressed by the traditional system of nation-states. The expansion of the Internet has been called the most revolutionary development in the history of human communications. It is ubiquitous and is changing politics, economics, and social relations. Its borderless nature affects the roles of individuals, the magic of the marketplace, and the problems of government regulation. As its development has increased apace, contradictions have arisen between existing regulatory regimes, private interests, government concerns, international norms, and national interests. Unlike most areas where there are global institutions, and the role of governments is predominant, the Internet is a field where the private sector and civil society each have a role as important - or sometimes more important - than governments.

Based on international regime theory, this book analyses how the multi-stakeholder institutions have grown along with the Internet itself. John Mathiason shows how governance of the Internet began as a technical issue but became increasingly political as the management of critical resources began to conflict with other international regimes and the Internet Governance Forum was a compromise solution to a governance issue that did not fit neatly into existing institutional structures. These new institutions will set precedents for other areas where governance is necessary beyond the nation-state.

Internet Governance is an innovative multi-stakeholder approach to dealing with global problems and ideal reading for students, teachers, and researchers of politics of technology, digital politics, and governance.

Contents:

What is the Internet and what is governance?

Before the Internet : communications and its regulation through history

The non-state actors : engineers, entrepreneurs, and netizens

Solving the domain name problem : Internet governance is born

Regulatory imperatives for Internet governance : downloading music, free speech, YouTube, porn, and crime and terrorism

The ICANN experiment

Multi-stakeholderism emerges from the World Summit on the Information Society

The IGF experiment begins

What does the frontier look like?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-161) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1932 Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Mathiason, John, 1942- Internet governance.

ISBN:

0415774020

9780415774024

0415774039

9780415774031

0203946081

9780203946084

OCLC:

166379196