Informační sítě a metoda právní regulace

Mgr. Zuzana Motúzová

Master's thesis

Information networks and the method of legal regulation

Abstract:

Computer networks, Internet, cyberspace and Internet related issues has awaken the scholars and lawyers to discourse, which is being held over several years. Not even, that the Internet itself has changed the social climate and reshaped the social, cultural and economic principles of regularity, but it also changed the approach of law to regulated reality. There is no longer a simple physical world with limited space and limited normative regularity, but the world has extended its proportion to interconnected web with multiple participation of citizens of almost all countries of the world and within that, the new normative challenges and new normative battle between old and new has began. Many think, that law is everywhere regulative, that there is no such a thing, which can exit without being under the formal normativity of law. Controversially, there are some, who assumed, that it is the cyberspace, which is going to become a semi-anarchistic world for fugitives from outer heavy-binding and biased society. Sometimes, even I personally feel the anxiety for being awarded with a total freedom of choice over my Internet life, and I enjoy being left alone by everything around. On the other hand, the situations, when the legal norms are called are multiplying. This dissertations main focus is to analyze the need of legal performance in cyberspace on behalf of postmodern citizen. The preliminary parts of the paper provide the system of concepts dealing with cyberspace, introducing the conceptual views of cyberspace itself. Then, the encounter of cyberspace and normative systems will unveil the relation between the emerging Internet and stated normative structures, such as ethics, religion, morality and law. It also refers to nonlegal group of rules, commonly used by Internet users netizens, resembling the legal meaning of customs. The Internet also has developed its specific normative ruling, such as netiquette, definition norms, usage of standard for creation of web presentations, which enclosure the first part of the introduction of cyberspace. Brief summary of history of Internet precedes the depiction of typical social role characteristics for Internet user. Also, I constructed the scheme of cyberspace as a social reality, relatively separated from physical social reality, but existing independently in connection with oneselfs identity. Legal meaning and legal status of the Internet is the subject of the next section. This section mainly deals with the relation of the legal norms and their acceptance in cyberspace. It is well-known fact, that the acceptance of law is significant for legal norms for being socially accepted and therefore obeyed. I assume, that the dependency line between acceptance of legal norms and its real performance is interpolated with abruption of virtual identity from the physical one and therefore the abruption of positive legal norms is becoming obvious. Even though, legal norms are actually part of the normative systems occurring on the Internet and their scope of legal action is changing because of the spatial and temporal specifics, which causes the problem of changing the meaning of jurisdiction. Although there is a law, some question had not been answered yet. And that is, how should Internet be governed and by whom. There are two opposite perspectives. The first one is based on presumption, that Internet itself has its own self-governing backups and it, as a self governing body, should be left alone. Another is, that Internet is not capable of creating and properly exercising its own rules. The truth is in the middle, better to say, it is worthy to be looked for. Yet no article of partnership over the Internet between state and citizens has not been contracted. This treaty should designate the role of civil and public law within the regulation of Internet or even let the Internet to govern itself. This part of my dissertation is bringing the dispute of civil and public interests within the regulat

Abstract:

ion of Internet. I suppose the value of Internet and the character of Internet space, are the two elementary determinants for building up the contract. And I also insist on help of government to maintain the Internets most important values as the unnecessary interference of state power. Government itself, under the changing of social climate, should, in order to maintain its former power, introduce the user-friendly government powered by open informatization. The closing section is considering the application problems of actual Internet issues. It opens the questions of control over Internet content, software patents, human rights within the Internet, electronic forms of civil disobedience, hactivism, and more.

Keywords

Internet, kyberprostor, počítačové sítě, metoda právní regulace, normativní systémy v kyberprostoru, netiquette

Language used: Czech

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 25. 5. 2006

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 7. 6. 2006
• Supervisor: doc. JUDr. Radim Polčák, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Law

Master programme / field:
Law and Legal Science / Law