READ THIS TREATISE ON INTERNET GOVERNANCE

An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

Twenty years ago, the Internet was in its infancy. Now, no business or government can do without it, nor can most individual users.

Nevertheless in many respects it has grown from infancy into a wild child, or as some have said, a wild frontier, almost completely lawless and therefore subject to exploitation and abuse, with all kinds of desperate measures put in place to make it 'safe for the children’, not to mention the rest of us.

Joanna Kulesza, an assistant professor of international public law at Lodz University in Poland has therefore written a timely and important book advocating international standards of governance. The book should particularly interest legal scholars concerned with international law and international relations.

Practitioners involved in any area of IT law, or for that matter, international trade over the internet will also find it immensely useful, not only as a study of the current Promethean state of internet law, but also as an examination of possibilities and probabilities which will affect internet governance in the future.

This lucid and erudite book begins with a quote from Kofi Annan, who, speaking at the Global Internet Governance Forum in New York in 2004, observed that 'the Internet has revolutionized trade, heath, education and indeed the very fabric of human communication and exchange’.

'Clearly, there is a need for governance,’ he adds, 'but that does not necessarily mean that it has to be done in the traditional way, for something that is so very different.’

Since that quite prescient statement was made, Internet usage worldwide has increased to an estimated 2.5 billion users, or one in three of the world’s population. The need for some form of international standard for Internet governance has become urgent.

'Laying down common legal principles governing the Internet as a whole would facilitate the protection of users’ rights,’ remarks the author – and who would disagree-

The book therefore reveals a broad range of views surrounding the issue of Internet governance. Such topics as international copyright protection, state responsibility regarding cyber-attacks and online protection of privacy are discussed.

A comparative study is made of the way in which different jurisdictions approach the problem; the US, EU, China and Singapore included.

The author’s suggested solution revolves around the principle of 'International Internet Law’ which could evolve, we assume, in a similar way to international environmental law.

An Internet Framework Convention would be required to point the way for international cooperation on regulating the Internet worldwide in an enlightened, ethical manner, ideally in keeping with democratic principles and traditions of free speech.

Any user of the Internet; certainly anyone concerned with its future will find much to consider in this thought provoking book. Researchers in this area will be delighted by the bibliography of some 26 pages, which offers abundant avenues for further reading and enquiry. There is also an extensive table of cases and statutes. The publication date is 2012.