Internet Interpol

Last night, Eugene Kaspersky of Kaspersky Labs told us his dream of Internet Interpol, a regulatory body with global policing/litigating powers. 

The idea brings to mind Professor Jonathan Zittrain’s (Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University) recommendation for a “21st Century International Manhattan Project,” a suggestion that we need a global taskforce to fully secure the Internet.  The original Manhattan Project was a global effort to find a way to make the atomic bomb.

In his book Code Version 2.0 Professor Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Stanford University, describes his concern that a catalyst in the form of a major global malware attack will need to occur before governments around the world join forces in protecting this valuable and vulnerable asset.

Professor Lessig points to the U.S. Patriot Act, and how it was enacted only 45 days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. 

The Patriot Act dramatically expanded the authority of American law enforcement to fight terrorism – both in the United States and abroad. 

The fact that it was enacted the month following the WTC attack suggests the original Patriot Act was ready to go – but – there was no will to implement it.  Sadly, September 11 provided the will.

Will we ever see Internet Interpol?  Who knows?  Some claim that the jurisdictional boundaries will never allow for Internet Interpol, others are optimistic; it’s happened before, why can it not happen again?

What do you think?

Professor Lawrence Lessig is the founder of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society , as well as the founder of Creative Commons, a non profit helping people reuse, remix, and share stuff legally.