Whether you call it the third wave, the information revolution, or the virtually connected world, the implications of a global information network are profound. As a society, we want to forestall the possible negative impacts without closing the door to the potential benefits. But how? Global Networks and Local Values provides perspective and direction, focusing on the relationship between global information networks and local values-that is, the political, economic, and cultural norms that shape our daily lives. This book is structured around an illuminating comparison between U.S. and German approaches toward global communication and information flow. (The United States and Germany are selected as two industrialized, highly networked countries with significant social differences.) Global Networks and Local Values captures the larger context of technology and culture, explores the political and commercial institutions where the global network functions, and highlights specific issues such as taxation, privacy, free speech, and more. The committee contrasts the technical uniformity that makes global communication possible with the diversity of the communities being served and explores the prospects that problems resulting from technology can be resolved by still more technology. This thoughtful volume will be of interest to everyone concerned about the social implications of the global Internet.

Regulation is often thought of as an activity that restricts behaviour and prevents the occurrence of certain undesirable activities, but the influence of regulation can also be enabling or facilitative, as when a market could potentially be chaotic if uncontrolled. This Handbook provides a clear and authoritative discussion of the major trends and issues in regulation over the last thirty years, together with an outline of prospective developments. It brings together contributions from leading scholars from a range of disciplines and countries. Each chapter offers a broad overview of key current issues and provides an analysis of different perspectives on those issues. Experiences in different jurisdictions and insights from various disciplines are drawn upon, and particular attention is paid to the challenges that are encountered when specific approaches are applied in practice. Contributors develop their own distinctive arguments relating to the central issues in regulation and apply scholarly rigour and clear writing to matters of high policy-relevance. The essays are original, accessible, and agenda-setting, and the Handbook will be essential reading both to students and researchers and to with regulatory and regulated professionals.

Transnational governance designates non-traditional types of international and regional collaboration among both public and private actors. These essays explore the links between economic, scientific and technological spheres and the challenges they present to traditional models of governance in constitutional states

"This volume is a collection of the papers presented at the first ('kick-off') meeting in ... Dornburg, near Jena (Germany), 26-28 May 2005."--Foreword.

'This collection of legal, philosophical, economic, and cultural perspectives ultimately makes a strong case for the potential value of game environments for addressing diversity issues, but also raises important concerns regarding implementation of corporate and government policies in this sector highly recommended for anyone exploring this emerging field.' Benjamin T. Duranske, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, US 'Videogaming is serious business. But the legal and theoretical implications of online and virtual environments are little understood. Professor Graber and Ms. Burri-Nenova have done a masterful job of bringing together several insightful articles that inform us about the business, legal and sociological implications of digital gaming. Innovative, fast-paced, and engaging as games themselves, these scholarly works provide invaluable insight for academics, policy makers and perhaps even participants themselves about the reality behind virtual worlds.' Shubha Ghosh, University of Wisconsin Law School, US 'This is an excellent and path-breaking collection of sharp and carefully researched essays. It provides wonderful insights on numerous important aspects of the complex relationship between play, cultural diversity, communications policy, and the governance of virtual societies. The phenomenal growth of these new digital realms has raised important questions across the academic disciplines, making this book's interdisciplinary focus extremely helpful to potential regulators and university scholars alike.' Greg Lastowka, Rutgers School of law, Camden, US This innovative book provides transdisciplinary analyses of the nature and dynamics of digital game environments whilst tackling the existing fragmentation of academic research. Digital game environments are of increasing economic, social and cultural value. As their influence on diverse facets of life grows, states have felt compelled to intervene and secure some public interests. Yet, the contours of a comprehensive governance model are far from recognisable and governments are grappling with the complexity and fluidity of online games and virtual worlds as private spaces and as experimentation fields for creativity and innovation. This book contributes to a more comprehensive and fine-grained understanding of digital game environments, which is a precondition for addressing any of the pressing governance questions posed. Particular attention is given to the concept and policy objective of cultural diversity, which also offers a unique entry point into the discussion of the appropriate legal regulation of digital games. Governance of Digital Game Environments and Cultural Diversity will be of interest to researchers of media law, internet law and governance, cultural studies, anthropology and sociology. As the book addresses a highly topical theme, it will attract the attention of policymakers at national, regional and international levels and will also serve as a great resource tool for scholars in new media and in particular digital games and virtual worlds.

During the past decade, the rise of online communication has proven to be particularly fertile ground for academic exploration at the intersection of law and society. Scholars have considered how best to apply existing law to new technological problems but they also have returned to first principles, considering fundamental questions about what law is, how it is formed and its relation to cultural and technological change. This collection brings together many of these seminal works, which variously seek to interrogate assumptions about the nature of communication, knowledge, invention, information, sovereignty, identity and community. From the use of metaphor in legal opinions about the internet, to the challenges posed by globalization and deterritorialization, to the potential utility of online governance models, to debates about copyright, free expression and privacy, this collection offers an invaluable introduction to cutting-edge ideas about law and society in an online era. In addition, the introductory essay both situates this work within the trajectory of law and society scholarship and summarizes the major fault lines in ongoing policy debates about the regulation of online activity.