And How Shall the Net Be Governed? A Meditation on the Relative Virtues of Decentralized, Emergent Law

David R. Johnson, and David G. Post

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 9/5/1996)

Now that lots of people use (and plan to use) the internet, many -- governments, businesses, techies, users and system operators (the "sysops" who control ID issuance and the servers that hold files) -- are asking how we will be able to (1) establish and enforce baseline rules of conduct that facilitate reliable communications and trustworthy commerce, and (2) define, punish and prevent wrongful actions that trash the electronic commons or impose harm on others. In other words, how will Cyberspace be governed, and by what right?