The Internet's explosion into the public consciousness in the 1990s was marked by a heady rhetoric about its uniqueness. As the Internet has matured, however, traditional governments and private actors have increasingly sought to assert control over conduct and content in cyberspace. How will -- and how should -- governance in cyberspace evolve now that the utopian vision of the Net as a perfectly self-governing realm has been dispelled? The focus: Where we are now; Guiding principles for good governance; Proper roles for different actors; Specific governance challenges. The Internet disrupts existing relationships between individuals, businesses, and states, spawning new intermediaries between these entities and eliminating old ones. Much of the commercial law that undergirds international business transactions, for example, has been designed to facilitate exchange among businesses ... What adaptations should be made to this law when individuals become transactors in the global economy? This is an excellent and recent report from the Aspen Institute. Rethinking Boundaries in Cyberspace [PDF] | 
