Internet Policy

Abstract

The Internet is now widely regarded as essential infrastructure for our global economy and society. It is in our homes and businesses. We use it to communicate and socialize, for research, and as a platform for E-commerce. In the late 1990s, much was predicted about what the Internet has become at present; but now, we have actual experience living with the Internet as a critical component of our everyday lives. Although the Internet has already had profound effects, there is much we have yet to realize. The present volume represents a third installment in a collaborative effort to highlight the all-encompassing, multidisciplinary implications of the Internet for public policy. The first installment was conceived in 1998, when we initiated plans to organize an international conference among academic, industry, and government officials to discuss the growing policy agenda posed by the Internet. The conference was hosted by the European Commission in Brussels in 1999 and brought together a diverse mix of perspectives on what the pressing policy issues would be confronting the Internet. All of the concerns identified remain with us today, including how to address the Digital Divide, how to modify intellectual property laws to accommodate the new realities of the Internet, what to do about Internet governance and name-space management, and how to evolve broadcast and telecommunications regulatory frameworks for a converged world.