The Role Of Internet Intermediaries In Advancing Public Policy Objectives

This book presents a comprehensive view of Internet intermediaries, their economic and social function, development and prospects, benefits and costs, and roles and responsibilities.

This book presents a comprehensive view of Internet intermediaries, their economic and social function, development and prospects, benefits and costs, and roles and responsibilities.

The Declaration on The Future of the Internet Economy, adopted at the OECD meeting at Ministerial level in Seoul in 2008, invited the OECD to: examine “the role of various actors, including intermediaries, in meeting policy goals for the Internet economy in areas such as combating threats to the security and stability of the internet, enabling cross-border exchange, and broadening access to information.” In response, the OECD's Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) undertook a broad project to gain a more comprehensive view of Internet intermediaries, their economic and social functions, development and prospects, benefits and costs, and roles and responsibilities as part of its programme of work.The first part of the project (The Economic and Social Role of Internet Intermediaries) developed a common definition and understanding of what Internet intermediaries are, of their economic function and economic models, and discussed market developments and the economic and social uses that these actors satisfy.The present report (The Role of Internet Intermediaries in Advancing Public Policy Objectives) is the second part of the project. It examines the roles and responsibilities of Internet intermediaries in advancing public policy objectives, as well as the costs and benefits of their involvement. After introducing how intermediaries could take on a policy role through responses to legal requirements; through industry self-regulation; and through their business practices, this report takes an issue-based approach to evaluate possible involvement of Internet intermediaries in helping to advance specific policy objectives. Case studies look at the free flow of information, reinforcing cyber-security, combating illegal content and child inappropriate content, deterring illegal online gambling, ensuring respect of copyrights and trademarks, and protecting consumers in e-commerce transactions.Lilian Edwards contributed extensively to the chapter on legal issues in the second report, drawing on work from her chapter on online intermediary liability in Edwards and Waelde eds Law and the Internet (Hart, 2009). No claim is made to the rest of the report, or its conclusions, which belong to the OECD.

Internet intermediaries play a unique role in linking authors of content and audiences. They may either protect or jeopardize end user rights to free expression, given their role in capturing, storing, searching, sharing, transferring and processing large amount of information, data and user-generated content. This research aims to identify principles for good practices and processes that are consistent with international standards for free expression that Internet intermediaries may follow in order to protect the human rights of end users online.

In this, the fourth edition of Private International Law and the Internet, Professor Dan Svantesson provides a detailed and insightful account of what has emerged as the most crucial current issue in private international law; that is, how the Internet affects and is affected by the five fundamental questions: When should a lawsuit be entertained by the courts? Which state’s law should be applied? When should a court that can entertain a lawsuit decline to do so? How wide ‘scope of jurisdiction’ should be afforded to a court with jurisdiction over a dispute? And will a judgment rendered in one country be recognized and enforced in another? Professor Svantesson identifies and investigates twelve characteristics of Internet communication that are relevant to these questions and then proceeds with a detailed discussion of what is required of modern private international law rules. Focus is placed on several issues that have far-reaching practical consequences in the Internet context, including the following: cross-border defamation; cross-border business contracts; cross-border consumer contracts; and cross-border intellectual property issues. A wide survey of private international law solutions encompasses insightful and timely analyses of relevant laws adopted in a variety of jurisdictions, including Australia, England, Hong Kong SAR, the United States, Germany, Sweden, and China, as well as in a range of international instruments. There is also a chapter on advances in geo-identification technologies and their special value for legal practice. The book concludes with two model international conventions, one on cross-border defamation and one on cross-border contracts, as well as a set of practical checklists to guide legal practitioners faced with cross-border matters within the discussed fields. Professor Svantesson’s book brings together a wealth of research findings in the overlapping disciplines of law and technology that will be of particular utility to practitioners and academics working in this complex and rapidly changing field. His thoughtful analysis of the interplay of the developing Internet and private international law will also be of great value, as will the tools he offers with which to anticipate the future. Private International Law and the Internet provides a remarkable stimulus to continue working towards globally acceptable private international law rules for communication via the Internet.

This report contains detailed profiles of twelve of the world’s leading platform companies and derives insights from those profiles about what platforms actually do, how they do it, and why they succeed financially.

Fundamental Rights Protection Online presents an in-depth analysis of national, supranational and international attempts at online speech regulation, illustrating how the law has been unsettled on how to treat intermediaries.