The traditional response of government to such challenges has been regulation. Therefore, an argument is often made that there is a danger that society will, in the end, impose too many rigid laws, rules, and policies in order to regulate these developments. But there is already the equal, or perhaps even greater danger, that the negative consequences of these new technologies will exacerbate the already extremely difficulty problems already being faced globally by all societies, especially developing countries, in all sectors including the environment, health, education, income security, employment, trade, investment, and so on. It is much easier to make a resounding speech, attend a multi-national conference, write an eloquent article or a scientific paper, or even have a chat with trusted colleagues and friends about the problem, than to invest the time and effort to probe deeply into the world of policy formulation. An example of the kind of Cyberspace issue we are talking about is printing and publishing.
Publishers view with alarm the bringing up full-text database on the Internet.
But, inevitably, the old paper-based technologies, in short, are gradually but inexorably disappearing in the virtual reality of Cyberspace and the Global Village economy. But one cannot predict people's willingness to pay for electronic public information goods and services without first having some understanding of the social forces and the motivations of whole societies. Two useful indicators of this willingness to pay for information at the country level are the technological capacity of a nation, and the importance accorded the research sector of a country. Developing countries, especially, have a critical stake in how successfully they cope with the trade, environmental, energy, health, agricultural, industrial, population and other challenges facing them as they enter the Information Age. Putting in place national information laws and policies, including sector specific information policies, are a key building block needed to meet those challenges.