Do We Need to Impose More Regulation Upon the World Wide Web? -A Metasystem Analysis

The intent of this article is to show the need to establish a more formal organization than presently exists over the World Wide Web. (This article will use the terms the Internet and Cyberspace interchangeably.) It is proposed that this formal organization take the form of a metacontrol system-to be explained-and rely, at least in part, for this control to self-regulate. The so-called metasystem system would be responsible for preventing some of the unanticipated situations that take place in cyberspace and that, due to the web’s lack of maturity, have not been encountered heretofore. Some activities, such as the denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, may well be illicit. Others, like the question of establishing a world-wide democratic board to administer the Internet’s address system, are so new that there are no technical, legal or political precedents to ensure its design will succeed.