Guides: International and Foreign Cyberspace Law Research Guide: Secondary Sources

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Secondary Sources on Internet Governance

This page includes a selection of secondary sources on Internet governance, beginning with introductory sources offering a broad overview of the subject. Secondary sources covering narrower topics within the field of Internet governance are listed further below and in the column to the right.

Introductory Sources

Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet
Call Number: K564.C6 .C68 2013
This report, commissioned by the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, provides concrete recommendations for developing international norms, rules, and laws to maintain the integrity of the Internet in the face of mounting security threats and attempts by authoritarian regimes to limit the free flow of information.
The Global War for Internet Governance
Call Number: K4345 .D46 2014
This study provides a theoretical framework for what the author characterizes as the oxymoron of Internet governance, taking into account both the decentralized power structure that has emerged, as well as the much more limited role played by sovereign nations and multilateral treaties.
Governance, Regulation, and Powers on the Internet
Call Number: K564.C6 G68 2012
An international team of scholars explains how the development of digital technologies led to the creation of new, decentralized modes of regulation and governance, driven largely by non-state actors, within the broader context of globalization and the decline of the nation-state.
Negotiating Internet Governance
Call Number: K564.C6 R33 2019
ISBN: 9780198833079
This book provides an incisive analysis of the emergence and evolution of global Internet governance, revealing its mechanisms, key actors and dominant community practices. Based on extensive empirical analysis covering more than four decades, it presents the evolution of Internet regulation from the early days of networking to more recent debates on algorithms and artificial intelligence, putting into perspective its politically-mediated system of rules built on technical features and power differentials.

Role of State Actors & Public International Law

International Internet Law
Call Number: K7625 .K85 2012 and Electronic
After comparing how different jurisdictions have attempted to address such thorny issues as online privacy, international copyright protection, and state responsibility for cyber attacks, the author concludes that a new multilateral treaty is needed to provide an international law framework for improving Internet governance and enhancing international cooperation.
Public International Law of Cyberspace
Call Number: K564.C6 K75 2017
The author examines the international legal regime governing relations among states, and between states and individuals, in relation to the use of cyberspace. Topics covered include the jurisdiction of states in cyberspace, responsibility of states for cyber activities, human rights in the cyber world, permissible responses to cyber attacks, the rules of engagement in cyber warfare, suppression of cyber crimes, permissible limits of cyber espionage, and the suppression of cyber terrorism.
Reconstituting Internet Normativity: The Role of the State, Private Actors, and the Global Online Community in the Production of Legal Norms
Call Number: K564.C6 K68 2015
The author examines whether a “lex digitalis” based on the principles of self-regulation and decentralization, with minimal input from state institutions, can constitute a viable, coherent legal regime that is legitimate, transparent, accountable, and compatible with the rule of law.

Content Regulation & Freedom of Expression Online

Confronting the Internet’s Dark Side: Moral and Social Responsibility on the Free Highway
Call Number: TK5105.8854 .C64 2015
The author explores the concept of social responsibility online, asking whether and to what extent individuals, corporations, governments, and the international community should attempt to limit violent, hateful, and antisocial behavior online.
Freedom of Expression and the Internet
Call Number: K3253 .B46 2013 and Electronic
This study attempts to define the extent and limits of freedom of expression online. The authors examines a variety of national practices that illustrate how different jurisdictions have addressed the issue. They also highlight the importance of standard-setting and monitoring by international institutions and non-governmental organizations.
Freedom of Expression in the Internet Society
Call Number: KJC5154 .B84 2016
The study analyses judicial interpretations of Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights in cases invovling freedom of expression online, with special attention given to the 2015 decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Delfi v. Estonia, which delineated the duties and liabilities of internet service providers.
Fundamental Rights Protection Online
Call Number: K3254 .F86 2020 and Electronic
Fundamental Rights Protection Online presents an in-depth analysis of national, supranational and international attempts at online speech regulation, illustrating how the law has been unsettled on how to treat intermediaries. In this book, expert contributors explore how problems ranging from disinformation to hate speech to copyright violations are framed and tackled though legislation, codes of conduct and judicial interpretation.
Global Free Expression: Governing the Boundaries of Internet Content
Call Number: K4345 .W34 2016
The author traces the emergence of a “global default regime” for defining permissible online expression that relies almost entirely on a mixture of private and public sector content regulation, rather than international institutions.
The Governance of Online Expression in a Networked World
Call Number: HM851 .G676 2016
This collection of essays describes how digital technologies have empowered individual citizens and activists to communicate and organize online while simultaneously enabling state actors to more easily monitor private communications, restrict the flow of information, and manipulate public discourse.
Judicial Protection of Fundamental Rights on the Internet
Call Number: K3264.C65 P473 2022
This book explores how the Internet impacts on the protection of fundamental rights, particularly with regard to freedom of speech and privacy. In doing so, it seeks to bridge the gap between Internet Law and European and Constitutional Law.
Regulating Speech in Cyberspace
Call Number: K4305 .L35 2015
This book examines how internet service providers, search engines, social media platforms, and other corporate gatekeepers regulate the flow of information and facilitate or hinder freedom of expression online. The author proposes a new model for corporate social responsibility in the digital age.

Find More Resources on Internet Governance

To locate additional materials on Internet governance in the Georgetown Law Library collection, use the library catalog’s Advanced Search option. Select Law Library Catalog, then select Subject as the search field, and then search for one of the following subject headings as an exact phrase:

For greater precision, search for a subject heading in the first line and use the remaining lines to search for additional terms or exact phrases using the default Any Field setting.

Technical Aspects of Internet Governance

Domain Name Law and Practice: An International Handbook (2nd ed.)
Call Number: K1555 .B48 2015
This book provides in-depth analysis of trademark protections and domain name registration procedures in 35 jurisdictions. It also covers ICANN’s gTLD program, including application procedures, rights protection mechanisms, and dispute resolution procedures.
Global Standard Setting in Internet Governance
Call Number: Electronic
The book addresses representation of the public interest in Internet standard developing organisations (SDOs). Case studies centre on standards relating to privacy and security, mobile communications, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and copyright. The book lifts the lid on internet standard setting with detailed insight into a world which, although highly technical, very much affects the way in which citizens live and work on a daily basis.
Networks, Complexity and Internet Regulation: Scale-Free Law
Call Number: K564.C6 G83 2011
The author uses case studies to introduce the scientific theory of complex networks to a legal audience, arguing that in order to effectively regulate the Internet, one must first develop an understanding of how large, distributed, self-organizing networks operate.

Interdisciplinary Approaches

The Evolution of Global Internet Governance: Principles and Policies in the Making
Call Number: TK5105.8854 .E96 2014
ISBN: 3642452981
This collection of papers presented at an academic workshop following the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) includes contributions from experts in the fields of international law, international relations, and telecommunications law writing about the future of transnational networked governance.
Internet Governance: Origins, Current Issues, and Future Possibilities
Call Number: TK5105.8854 .B35 2015 and Electronic
After tracing the historical development of the Internet and the rapidly evolving set of norms and rules that govern it, the author of this study proposes a new model for the future of Internet governance, incorporating principles from the fields international law, human rights law, computer science, and library and information science.
Research Handbook on Governance of the Internet
Call Number: K564.C6 R47 2013
Provides a comprehensive overview of current Internet governance and its future prospects over the next decade, featuring contributions from experts in the fields of law, economics, and political science on topics ranging from the legitimacy of governing institutions, the role of grassroots activism, human rights, privacy, network neutrality, and incentives for improving security.

International and Foreign Cyberspace Law Research Guide

Contents