Nodes and Gravity in Virtual Space - Andrew Murray

Last updated on September 26, 2024

WikiLeaks is seen as an example of the globalization of media, not the unregulability of cyberspace.
Cyberlibertarianism: Belief that cyberspace resists government regulation due to its borderless nature, thus, only self-regulation by its users is legitimate.
Cyberpaternalism: Argues that unregulated cyberspace is harmful, with two sub-schools:
Cyber-realism: Cyberspace is not ungovernable; multiple jurisdictions and international cooperation (like aviation law) show regulation is possible.
Techno-determinism (Berkman School): Looks to historical examples like Lex Mercatoria, but struggles with enforcing rules in cyberspace’s unique environment.
Network Communitarianism: Cyberspace governance is shaped by communication within communities. Individuals (dots) actively participate in legitimizing or challenging regulation through discourse.
Gatekeepers (ISPs, platforms) hold power in cyberspace due to control over information flow, but their legitimacy depends on either democratic transfer of authority or community recognition.
Regulatory capacity: Gatekeepers wield significant control, but the legitimacy of their power remains questionable without proper authority or community consent.
Gatekeepers as powerful regulators: Internet gatekeepers (ISPs, search engines) hold significant regulatory power in cyberspace, often more than state regulators, due to their control over access and communication networks.
Distinction between capacity and legitimacy: The paper stresses that while gatekeepers have regulatory capacity, they often lack legitimacy unless this authority is either transferred from a legitimate source or recognized by the online community.
Importance of community support: For a regulatory action to be legitimate, it must have the support of the online community through open discourse and the free flow of information.
Proxy regulators and legitimacy: The use of gatekeepers as proxy regulators is always illegitimate unless they have gained legitimacy either through authority transfer or by community acceptance.
Key to legitimacy: Legitimacy in regulation is not about the amount of control or mass a gatekeeper has but how that power is exercised, earned, or recognized by the community.

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[[A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace - John Perry Barlow]]

This Digital Garden aims to create a topography of my interests and inspirations. This neural map (a bit chaotic, much like my mind) generates an automatic graphical representation of the connections between different topics and subjects explored in this garden. Feel free to get lost.