With the rapid development of ICT, the Internet has become an integral part of everyday life, making it an essential means for conducting effective social activities. Cyberspace, however, has been inundated by never-seen-before types of crimes, illegal activities and political activities that readily cross national borders. This may be evidence that the Internet has gained influence on society, on the other hand, states can no longer ignore such activities. These activities have become the grounds for states to tighten security measures and place legal controls on the Internet.
Particularly in the United States, control over the Internet has been tightened since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Suddenly, privacy of individuals has become so restricted that freedom in cyberspace is at risk. Cyberspace is no longer the Land of Freedom, but is a ‘territory’ of state where control by law and order is increasingly prevalent.
From the perspective of the international order, on the other hand, the management of the Internet, interest of which appears to be monopolized by the United States, should be transferred to governments, particularly in developing countries, so that they can control information flowing through the Internet within their boundaries. At the same time, advanced countries should be able to maintain their current control systems because their Internet-related businesses should not be adversely affected by controls. As governance and international order in cyberspace are very hot issues today which must be solved by an international effort, we organized this symposium jointly with the Japan Society.

Speakers
Jordyn Buchanan, Site Reliability Manager at Google, Inc.; Chair, Whois Task Force, ICANN
Wendy Seltzer, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School; Fellow, The Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School
Izumi Aizu, Senior Research Fellow, The Tama University New Institute for Social Knowledge and Collaboration; Principal, Asia Network Research Center