Public ICT policy: Internationalization and ICT law: The position of the UK, Germany, France and the United States

The information society is essentially an international society. This challenges the law, which is still to a large extent nationally-based. The prime question that thus arises is: how can and should governments regulate information and communications technologies (ICT) and the Internet, given the fundamental influence of internationalization? The Center for Law, Public Administration and Informatization of Tilburg University (The Netherlands) researched the points of view on this of the governments of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, focusing on a number of general themes and specific issues in private and criminal law. The research was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Justice to support their memorandum Internationalization and the law in the information society, presented to the Dutch Parliament in May 2000. The research took place from January through April 2000 by analysing the states' major ICT policy papers and laws and by an international workshop held in Amsterdam. The outcome suggests that, if ICT law wants to grow up, governments should structurally incorporate the perspective of internationalization and jurisdiction in all policy-making in the area of ICT law.3 This article discusses the key issues that were addressed in the above-mentioned research and presents the main conclusions that were drawn.