Role and Function of the Information Public Law

As a ‘network of networks,’ the Internet globally connects a huge number of regional and individual networks and provides us with new hopes and possibilities. However, a nation-state as well as the legal order of the ‘state’(constitution) has limitations that are all too clear in order to regulate this new world formed by the Internet. It will soon be impossible for a single state to control these global information networks, and they will not be consistently and vertically operated and managed by anyone. As a result, ideologies or jurisdictions that support the legal order of a nation-state are no longer sufficient to control information delivery beyond borders. Furthermore, the development of the Internet and emergence of cyber space in the information society has led to the idea of ‘extinction’ of nation-states. Nevertheless, the conclusion that the state will be extinct due to the development of the information society is still nothing more than a hasty assumption. In other words, the information society does not indicate the end of the state. Rather, we must now clearly perceive that the object of our research and discussions must be the role and function of the nation-state in the newly emerged information society in the global aspect and international aspect, as well as in relationships with individuals or organizations that now have unimaginably strong information power. It is clear at this point that nation-states will lose the function and authority they have enjoyed or exercised to a certain degree, but this certainly does not indicate that nation-states are, and will be, unnecessary or useless. Rather, it is necessary to focus on the list of tasks that must be accepted by nation-states in the changed information society, as well as responsibilities and means to perform those tasks. KCI Citation Count: 0