SPACE AS PARADIGM OF INTERNET REGULATION

Right now internet regulation is standing at the crossroads. Its problem-driven evolution has led to a conglomerate of seemingly diverse rules, which can hardly be structured as one cohesive area of law. Nevertheless, a consolidation of these rules as one cross-sectional field of law is can be identified. The discussion about the terms “internet regulation” and “internet governance” as well as recent developments in this field indicate that a paradigm shift in internet regulation is ongoing. Whereas self-regulation has been the determining mode of internet governance for a long time, internet regulation in the sense of public regulation is currently gaining more influence. This transformation is accompanied by the rising importance of a traditional paradigm of law: the idea of space. Even though the idea of space finds itself challenged with regard to the internet, it can give substance to many different aspects of internet regulation.