Register online or send an email to
kbrand@cato.org>kbrand@cato.org
About the Conference
Many people have praised the Internet for its ubiquitous and "borderless" nature and argued that this global medium is revolutionary. Indeed, the World Wide Web increasingly challenges traditional concepts of jurisdiction, governance, and sovereignty. In the universe of cyberspace there are no passports, and geography is often treated as a meaningless concept.
But does that mean that traditional concepts of jurisdiction and governance are obsolete? When legal disputes arise in cyberspace, or when governments attempt to apply clashing legal standards or cultural norms to the Internet, how are such matters to be adjudicated? The variance in regulatory preferences from country to country is highlighted by policy disputes over free speech and libel, privacy, intellectual property, antitrust policy, and domain name registration, among other things. Myriad laws and regulations for "real" space are now being directly challenged by the rise of the parallel electronic universe known as cyberspace. Who is responsible for setting the standards in cyberspace? Is a "UN for the Internet" or a multinational treaty appropriate? If not, whose standards should govern cross-border cyber disputes? Are different standards appropriate for cyberspace and "real" space? Those nagging questions are being posed with increasing frequency.
This year's Technology & Society conference marks the release of the new Cato book
Who Rules the Net? Internet Governance and Jurisdiction. The conference will explore the newest developments in Internet jurisdiction and assess the future of public policy online.
