Global Technology and Legal Theory

<p>The rise and spread of the Internet has accelerated the global flows of money</p><p>technology and information that are increasingly perceived as a challenge to the</p><p>traditional regulatory powers of nation states and the effectiveness of their constitutions.</p><p>The acceleration of these flows poses new legal and political problems</p><p>to their regulation and control as shown by recent conflicts between Google and</p><p>the European Union (EU).</p><p>This book investigates the transnational constitutional dimension of recent</p><p>conflicts between Google and the EU in the areas of competition taxation and</p><p>human rights. More than a simple case study it explores how the new conflicts</p><p>originating from the worldwide expansion of the Internet economy are being dealt</p><p>with by the institutional mechanisms available at the European level. The analysis</p><p>of these conflicts exposes the tensions and contradictions between on the one</p><p>hand legal and political systems that are limited by territory and on the other</p><p>hand the inherently global functioning of the Internet. The EU’s promising</p><p>initiatives to extend the protection of privacy in cyberspace set the stage for a</p><p>broader dialogue on constitutional problems related to the enforcement of fundamental</p><p>rights and the legitimate exercise of power that are common to different</p><p>legal orders of world society. Nevertheless the different ways of dealing with the</p><p>competition and fiscal aspects of the conflicts with Google also indicate the same</p><p>limits that are generally attributed to the very project of European integration</p><p>showing that the constitutionalization of the economy tends to outpace the constitutionalization</p><p>of politics.</p><p>Providing a detailed account of the unfolding of these conflicts and their wider</p><p>consequences to the future of the Internet this book will appeal to scholars</p><p>working in EU law international law and constitutional law as well as those in the</p><p>fields of political science and sociology.</p>