Symbiotic regulation

In this paper the author examines the development and design of regulatory structures in Cyberspace. The paper considers and models how all forms of control – including design and market controls, as well as traditional command and control regulation are to be applied within the complex and flexible environment of Cyberspace. Drawing on the work of Cyber-regulatory theorists such as Yochai Benkler, Joel Reidenberg and Lawrence Lessig and matching it with an examination of social ordering from the English Peasant’s Revolt to the more modern theories of Jurgen Habermas and Nicklaus Luhmann this paper suggests a model of Cyber-regulation which acknowledges its true complexity. It further suggests how this model may be utilized by both regulators and regulatory theorists in our attempts to design a more comprehensive regulatory strategy for Cyberspace.