Rule of Law + Rule of Code? : An Exploration of the International Governance Network of Information and Communication Technologies

Mills, Ivory  Kiara

doi:https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-5dnm-5h70

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Rule of Law + Rule of Code? : An Exploration of the International Governance Network of Information and Communication Technologies

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Using social network analysis and legal, regulatory, and policy-based case studies, this dissertation explores the ways information and communication technologies (ICT) are regulated internationally. First, it details the composition of the interorganizational, cross sector network, describing the member and governance bodies active in ICT standard setting organizations (SSOs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The study uses exponential random graph modeling to examine how organizational attributes influence the patterns of interaction within the network. The results indicate that member organizations’ type, revenue, geographic region, and governance organization type influenced the configuration of the international ICT governance network.Additionally, to highlight the reach and significance of these regulatory activities and to more thoroughly understand the processes by which they occur, this study examines the way standards and treaties, along with the policies and practices of SSOs and treaty bodies, co-regulate three timely and complex issue areas. Chapter three examines the co-regulation of intellectual property through the lens of the WAPI and CDMA disputes. It shows how technological specifications, SSO IPR policies, and treaty provisions expand the scope and nature of IPRs in the international community and highlights the importance of dispute settlement and negotiation in the international regulatory system. Chapter four discusses the ways ICTs have become so enmeshed in the social and economic fabric of the modern world as critical infrastructure and dual use technologies. It describes the way treaty bodies and technological standards developers are balancing rapidly changing real and cyber security needs and priorities with their regulatory agendas. Chapter five details the way standards and treaties co-regulate ICTs to support and enhance economic progress and social development. It explains the way technological designs, internet governance priorities, and WTO agreement terms help foster an environment that can enable ICT4D to be effective, especially in transformative and enabling contexts such as data flows and mobile finance. Collectively, the social network analysis and the case studies provide a comprehensive account of the ways in which ICTs are co-regulated internationally by standards and treaties. It highlights the nuance and complexity of this governance network, as well as its far-reaching implications for other regulatory issues, regulatory systems at large, and the ICT market in general.

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