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International law and the internet

Author: Golia, A. Jr., Kettemann, M. C., & Kunz, R.
Published in: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, 81(3), 597-600
Year: 2021
Type: Academic articles
DOI: 10.17104/0044-2348-2021-3-597

Fifteen years is not a long time in the evolution of international law. Establishing the crystallisation of a rule into custom, for instance, might take decades. Fifteen years is, however, a substantial time when it comes to technological developments, especially information and communication tech- nologies (ICTs). Probably the most important advancement in the field of ICTs is the evolution of the Internet into the key communication facility of our time. At its core, the Internet remains ‘[a] global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardised communication protocols’.1 But the Internet is more than such a technical definition might suggest. It has permeated all aspects of human life and human agency. It has substantially affected how states conduct international affairs, how threats are communi- cated and carried out, how information is gathered and spread, and, how attacks are prepared and made. International law questions abound, but the Internet also affects scholarly communication about international law and the way international legal scholarship is discussed and disseminated.

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Matthias C. Kettemann, Prof. Dr. LL.M. (Harvard)

Head of Research Group and Associate Researcher: Global Constitutionalism and the Internet


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