Who owns cyberspace?

“From the first, we have talked of cyberspace as a ‘place’ or as ‘recently-discovered territory’, and have asked who governs this territory.”

The first question to ask and answer in a world of international communication is whose laws apply to cyberspace? Generally we think of ourselves as part of a nation with a national government. Nations have their own distinct set of laws imposed on their citizens. Hedley (2003) stated “the only way to impose a certain rule across the globe is to ensure that much the same rule is imposed by all the globe’s legal systems.” (p.217)

It seems that states have enough problems trying to police Internet users who break the law within the individual state. According to Hedley (2003) the police have a huge amount of data on persons breaking child pornography laws, but the police do not have the staff to deal with these cases. Is it realistic to expect this to be effectively on a nationwide level? And if it were a reality on a national level would it be effective internationally? No one nation can enact and enforce regulations for all other nations.

“Out of the chaos of the Internet, then, order will come. But it will be an international order, to which all nations will subscribe.”

Hedley, S. (2003). Nations, markets and other imaginary places: who makes the law in cyberspace?. Information & Communications Technology Law, 12(3), 215-224. doi:10.1080/1360083032000166803.