Should the Internet Be Regulated - Essay Example

The pervasiveness of the internet however has created its own problem. The absence of the physical identity of the individuals on the internet tended to loosen them up as they become invisible behind their digital personality. This has created problems such as;

“The growing incidence of online fraud and identity theft, privacy incursions, copyright infringements, trademark violations, domain name disputes, spamming, computer viruses, inadequate or vaguely defined consumer protection laws, and terrorist-related and pornographic websites” (David 2006).

These issues became so alarming that the idea of regulating the internet came into mind. Many people are suggesting that perhaps it is now time for the government to step in to enforce its police power to stop these issues online. But one cannot help to think whether it is proper for the government to step into cyberspace and whether it will be effective if ever it has to step in.

Without a doubt, the internet needs some sort of regulation of acceptable conduct but whether it should be the government who should enforce it is questionable. Governments are limited by geography and laws are relative depending on what country are you from. What is acceptable in one country may not be permissible in another. Say for example in China where it is not advisable to speak against the government while it is perfectly alright in the United States and such right is even protected by its laws. Given such relativity of laws, it would be difficult for any government to enforce its laws on another sovereign state for that would be tantamount to conflict.

Government is also a suspect in terms of policing cyberspace. We have already seen in other countries how government can react when given the prerogative to regulate the internet. It abridges information and censures freedom of speech. A classic example is Libya where anti-government forces have to find creative means to access the internet just to share to the world what is happening there during its revolution. Libyan government literally shut down internet access in its attempt to contain the information when its country was in tumult.

Yes, it is a given that behavior in cyberspace is less than the ideal that an acceptable behavior must be established. But given the issue, this will still not justify for the government to step in. The mere presence of the government on the internet will already violate its very nature of deregulated availability of information because governments cannot help themselves to use the internet for their own political end. It may even do more harm than good if regulation of the internet will be left for the government to police.

There is however an alternative form of regulation aside from the government. Since the internet is not bound by any geographical law, the idea of self-imposed regulation of cyberspace conduct from the interested parties in the private sector may be better. Among those who proposed it is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in the United States whose mandate is to develop a bottom-up consensus on the usage of the internet among the private sector. Though it differed in identity compared to that of the government, it still called for the regulation of cyberspace by a broader consensus of different interested parties in the private sector. It seeks to have a common agreement about the acceptable behavior in cyberspace not through the enforcement of any police power but a consensus of mutual concern of all parties involved to act properly online.

It is not coercive and is done by an initiative of the private sector acknowledges that there has to be a set of acceptable behavior in cyberspace to curb if not eliminate misconduct. It has no political agenda other than to better the behaviors of netizens online and does it by arriving at a common consensus.
Perhaps this proposal is more effective than the government doing the regulation. Read More