Will the Internet fragment?
Subtitle: sovereignty, globalization and cyberspace
By: Milton Mueller
Series: Digital futures series; Digital futures
Publisher: Polity Press
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 177
ISBN-13: 9781509501212; 9781509501229
Subjects: Government policy; Internet governance; Internet
Description: In characteristically rigorous fashion, Mueller's outstanding book punctures the alarmist myth of Internet fragmentation and helps us to understand what is really at stake as nations and other groups vie for power over the Internet. Jack Goldsmith, Harvard Law School There have been political and economic interests to 'Balkanize' the Internet as we know it for a quarter of a century. Mueller's razor-sharp arguments help us to understand the dimension of the challenge. Wolfgang Kleinwachter, University of Aarhus The Internet has united the world as never before. But is it in danger of breaking apart? Cybersecurity, geopolitical tensions, and calls for data sovereignty have made many believe that the Internet is fragmenting. In this incisive new book, Milton Mueller argues that the fragmentation diagnosis misses the mark. The rhetoric of fragmentation camouflages the real issue: the attempt by governments to align information flows with their jurisdictional boundaries. The fragmentation debate is really a power struggle over the future of national sovereignty. It pits global governance and open access against the traditional territorial institutions of government. This conflict, the book argues, can only be resolved through radical institutional innovations.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Coming undone?; title: A taxonomy of "fragmentation"; title: The illusion of technical fragmentation; title: Alignment: cyberspace meets sovereignty; title: Confronting alignment; title: Popular sovereignty in cyberspace.