Cyberspace and the Politics of Transnational Regulatory Governance

Since the 1970s digital technological advancements have been revolutionizing the conduct of global communications and commerce. These advancements, most notably the Internet, while challenging both governments and market participants to accommodate their interests and institutions to new market realities, have also shaped transnational governance structures and international negotiations. The book traces the evolution of these governance structures by investigating the governance implications raised by global electronic commerce (GEC). While many works often concentrate on one subject area of regulation, this book draws together processes from three different subject areas, namely copyright, data protection and jurisdiction, and suggests a novel way of understanding the significance of GEC on transnational governance. It reveals the limitations that GEC has imposed on such governance structures and how they have transformed multilateral regulatory negotiations. The book serves as a powerful explanatory work on the effects of GEC on regulatory negotiations, and uncovers the cultural and philosophical barriers that states face in such negotiations.