Since each new technological innovation, including the Internet and its related tools, poses its own special consequences – economic, ecological, political, educational, cultural and social, it is necessary to think more critically about how good governance and better regulation can be implemented to tame potential disruptions or anomalies. Highlighting that “the Internet environment is dynamic and complex and that its interdependence and interoperability are both its innovative strength and its inherent security weakness”, the main goal of this nine-chapter book is to examine regulation of and on the Internet from both a technologically advanced and a sophisticated regulatory perspective.
In Chapters 1 and 2 the authors explain their interdisciplinary methodology, insight and approach to regulating the Internet and justify why the five “hard cases” illustrating the regulatory crisis (i.e. “privacy and data protection”, “copyright and creativity incentives”, “censorship”, “social networks and user-generated content” and “net neutrality”) can provide more interesting answers than a one-size-fits-all slogan or a technologically determinist view to the future regulation of code. Chapters 3-7 then chronicle these five hard cases of code-based systems accompanied by the social impact of new ICTs on each of them (the statement of the problem), existing codes that can be used to regulate the situation, and the potential outcomes of realising the process of regulation.
Taking a cross-sectional approach, Chapter 8 as a summary of Chapters 3-7 provides reader with an analysis of the hard cases in terms of best practices, public policy and market failure, institutional political economy, types of code and code regulation, and outcomes and divergences. And, finally, Chapter 9, entitled Holistic Regulation of the Interoperable Internet, explains what more is needed to square the circle of Internet regulation in the broader public interest for all Internet users under the shadow of “prosumer law”. The book is equipped with a glossary of abbreviations and terms, a final rich bibliography and an index.
Regulating Code: Good Governance and Better Regulation in the Information Age calls for a smart multi- and trans-disciplinary solution in terms of code and regulation concerning Internet governance as a core issue of the information society agenda. In a word, it aims to provide effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy for its doctrine on the road to realising the global governance of communication that, in its turn, can pave the ground for a better civil society. It also reminds global thinkers and authorities that we should be wary of the gloomy side of ICT advancements. Overall, the book is a great addition to the literature (especially the geopolitics of information context) and is of value for a variety of audiences interested in this field, including students, academics, researchers, ICT theorists, policy makers, decision makers and IT managers.
