Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The →  Internet is a global network of computer networks linked by various information and telecommunication infrastructures and technologies. The Internet and the technologies that transmit its rivers of information around the globe are conceptualized and regulated by all countries of the world within the framework of their political, economic, social, and cultural systems. Each country has an attitude toward the Internet, especially those parts of the Internet within its national territory. This multiplicity of regulatory approaches to the Internet essentially transforms cyberspace into a series of interconnected jurisdictions where each country attempts to apply its rules, regulations, and culture to the networks within its territorial jurisdiction. Internet law and regulation is further complicated by the convergence of several media – information technology, telecommunications, print media, sound, still images, and motion pictures – which are regulated differently by different countries (→  Communication and Law ; Convergence of Media Systems ; Media Policy ). The Internet grew out of the communications network survivability concerns of the United States Department of Defense during the Cold War era. In effect, to compete with the Soviet Union in space technology after the latter launched the first artificial satellite into orbit in 1957, the United States launched the Advanced ... log in or subscribe to read full text