The tensions of securing cyberspace: The Internet, state power and The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace

Abstract

The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace exposes a growing tension between the nature of the Internet and the regulatory powers of the traditional nation–state. The National Strategy declares, with all the strength and authority of the United States government, the desire to secure a space many consider, by its very nature, chaotic and beyond the reach any organized or central control. This paper will argue that both the structural architecture of the Internet and the substantive values codified within it clash with governmental efforts to "secure cyberspace."