Reflecting on the significance of the changing landscape for the regulatory enterprise, this article is in six principal parts. In Section 1.1, I outline how, in the context of both off-line and on-line activities, we should frame our regulatory questions; and then I sketch my general understanding of what is involved in putting in place the right kind of regulatory environment for information technologies. In Sections 1.2-1.5, I speak to the four key challenges that face regulators who are dealing with new technologies (these are respectively, the challenges of regulatory prudence, regulatory legitimacy, regulatory effectiveness and regulatory connection), assessing in each case the significance of the emerging on-line world. In Section 1.6, I comment on the pervasive concern that regulators should not intervene in ways that stifle technological innovation.
