Contesting Cyberspace and the Coming Crisis of Authority
23
Drivers of Cyberspace Contestation
Driver 1: The Continuously Dynamic and Constantly Evolving Ecosystem of Cyberspace
It may seem obvious, but it is no less important a fact that cyberspace is deeply embedded in all aspects of life, growing continuously and dynamically. This growth and
dynamism is one of the most important drivers of cyberspace contests. In a very short
period of time cyberspace has moved from a research tool to which one connects to
a space for online engagement separate from the “ real world, ” to something that is
all encompassing and all engrossing. We now depend on it for more of our daily
activities, in the home, workplace, culture, politics, health, and other sectors. We store
business and personal information on “ clouds. ” We connect 24 hours a day through
a continuously evolving range of devices. According to UN estimates, the number of
SMS messages tripled from 2007 to 2010 to reach a staggering 6.1 trillion, with an
average of close to 200,000 text messages sent every second.
2
The Internet ’ s infrastructure, relatively trivial at one time, has now become a critical
component of society, economics, and politics, and ranked as one of the top security
priorities for governments of the world. Downtime of a telecommunications network,
even for a few minutes, can trigger huge fi nancial losses for customers and clients. For
example, even though Egypt has a relatively low Internet penetration rate of 24.3
percent,
3 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated
that the fi ve-day shuttering of the Internet in early 2011 contributed to a loss of USD
90 million in direct revenues, and a substantially higher amount in secondary economic impacts for which it did not account.
4 It is noteworthy in this respect that the
shuttering of the Internet did not initially include the Internet service provider (ISP)
Noor, whose clients include the Egyptian stock exchange, fi ve-star hotels, and corporate clients ranging from Coca-Cola to Pfi zer.
5 Had the government shuttered that ISP
at the same time as other providers, the losses would have been signifi cantly larger.
6
In a more advanced industrialized setting, downtimes of minutes can cause major
losses for the fi nancial sector, including banks and stock exchanges.
Such an enormous shift from something separate to something so deeply immersive
is going to raise the stakes for not only the rules of the game, but also the nature of
the game itself, particularly around norms, rules, and principles that have previously
been taken for granted or assumed away as noncontroversial. As more individuals,
groups, and organizations become dependent on cyberspace, the clashes of interests,
values, and ideologies become increasingly acute. There are more players with more
at stake, and thus a more active interest in how regulatory and other shifts affect their
strategic interests. Naturally, this creates conditions for disagreement and intense lobbying. What was once a tool for a relatively narrow segment of society (university
23
Drivers of Cyberspace Contestation
Driver 1: The Continuously Dynamic and Constantly Evolving Ecosystem of Cyberspace
It may seem obvious, but it is no less important a fact that cyberspace is deeply embedded in all aspects of life, growing continuously and dynamically. This growth and
dynamism is one of the most important drivers of cyberspace contests. In a very short
period of time cyberspace has moved from a research tool to which one connects to
a space for online engagement separate from the “ real world, ” to something that is
all encompassing and all engrossing. We now depend on it for more of our daily
activities, in the home, workplace, culture, politics, health, and other sectors. We store
business and personal information on “ clouds. ” We connect 24 hours a day through
a continuously evolving range of devices. According to UN estimates, the number of
SMS messages tripled from 2007 to 2010 to reach a staggering 6.1 trillion, with an
average of close to 200,000 text messages sent every second.
2
The Internet ’ s infrastructure, relatively trivial at one time, has now become a critical
component of society, economics, and politics, and ranked as one of the top security
priorities for governments of the world. Downtime of a telecommunications network,
even for a few minutes, can trigger huge fi nancial losses for customers and clients. For
example, even though Egypt has a relatively low Internet penetration rate of 24.3
percent,
3 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated
that the fi ve-day shuttering of the Internet in early 2011 contributed to a loss of USD
90 million in direct revenues, and a substantially higher amount in secondary economic impacts for which it did not account.
4 It is noteworthy in this respect that the
shuttering of the Internet did not initially include the Internet service provider (ISP)
Noor, whose clients include the Egyptian stock exchange, fi ve-star hotels, and corporate clients ranging from Coca-Cola to Pfi zer.
5 Had the government shuttered that ISP
at the same time as other providers, the losses would have been signifi cantly larger.
6
In a more advanced industrialized setting, downtimes of minutes can cause major
losses for the fi nancial sector, including banks and stock exchanges.
Such an enormous shift from something separate to something so deeply immersive
is going to raise the stakes for not only the rules of the game, but also the nature of
the game itself, particularly around norms, rules, and principles that have previously
been taken for granted or assumed away as noncontroversial. As more individuals,
groups, and organizations become dependent on cyberspace, the clashes of interests,
values, and ideologies become increasingly acute. There are more players with more
at stake, and thus a more active interest in how regulatory and other shifts affect their
strategic interests. Naturally, this creates conditions for disagreement and intense lobbying. What was once a tool for a relatively narrow segment of society (university