Internet Law: A Critical Overview

This timely book provides a critical overview of internet law, exploring how well the internet is governed through a wide range of converging and overlapping laws. These include commercial law, intellectual property law, criminal law, privacy law, speech law and surveillance law, as well as specific law for the internet and social media.

Taking a holistic view of the field, Paul Bernal explores recurrent challenges of identity and anonymity, age-verification and biometrics, encryption and related technologies, surveillance, extraterritoriality and cross-border enforcement, and the power of the internet giants – as well as the developing fields of machine learning and AI, cryptocurrencies, and the nebulous concept of the metaverse. He examines how major legislation, such as the Online Safety Act 2023 and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, attempt to address these challenges, and illustrate why making laws for the internet is difficult and often unsuccessful. The book highlights the common themes that underpin different areas of internet law, including unpredictability, political influence and rapid technological advancement, reflecting on future avenues for development.

Internet Law is a crucial resource for scholars and students of information and media law, internet and technology law and internet governance. It will also benefit legal practitioners and policymakers interested in furthering their understanding of the key theoretical ideas underpinning the implementation of internet law.