There are many networks of transport and communication that cross national borders, but the Internet’s infrastructure has been designed to do so with unusual subtlety. As a result, public policy issues raised in governance of the Internet tend to be inherently transnational in nature. This makes the legitimacy of a purely domestic legal approach to Internet governance questionable. The fact that conflicting domestic regimes may interfere with each other, and may clash with the transnational cultural and technical architecture of the Internet, further complicates an approach to governance based around legal rules. But on the other hand more traditional and decentralised mechanisms of Internet governance such as norms, markets and architecture suffer their own deficits of both legitimacy and effectiveness. Governance by multi-stakeholder network conceptually provides a solution in that it brings together each of the other mechanisms of governance and the stakeholders by whom they are commonly employed. Such a multi-stakeholder approach has begun to permeate (and in some issue areas even to supersede) the existing international system, as partially evidenced in the Internet governance regime by reforms that took root at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and have begun to find expression in its product, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Governance by network does not however emerge spontaneously, but requires supportive institutional structures and processes. To maximise the legitimacy and effectiveness of these, and to ensure their interoperability both with the international system and with the architecture of the Internet, requires a balance to be struck between the anarchistic and consensual organisational models typified by “native” Internet governance institutions such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and hierarchical and democratic models drawn from governmental and private sector examples and from the study of deliberative democracy. As an early experiment in multi-stakeholder governance by network, the Internet Governance Forum does not quite strike the correct balance: its hierarchical structure under the leadership of the United Nations is incompatible with its multi-stakeholder democratic ambitions, and more importantly it lacks the institutional capacity to fulfil its mandate to contribute to public policy development. This can largely be redressed by reforming the IGF’s plenary body, and its online analogue, as venues for democratic deliberation, subject to the oversight of an executive body or bureau to which each stakeholder group appoints its own representatives, and which is responsible for ratifying any decisions of the larger group by consensus. In particular, requiring this bureau to broker consensus between stakeholder groups (as in a consociation), rather than just amongst its members at large, can assist to diminish the power games that have limited the IGF to date.

This doctoral thesis is focused on the most progressive part of telecommunications nowadays, on Internet governance and Internet domain name system. This field is not only highly interesting, but only very little researched area from the point of view of economics sciences compared to the traditional fields. Recently, the question of Internet governance was highlighted, but it has been neither resolved nor sufficiently discussed so far. The theory does not answer many questions raised by the praxis sufficiently. The aim of the thesis was to describe the branch in detail and to develop an original model, which would characterise the dependency of the number of registrations on other indicators. This doctoral thesis of Regina Filipova Fuchsova brings a detailed analysis of factors influencing the domain name system. This is the first analysis of this art ever, which targets top level domains .cz and .eu. Typology of TLD registries and connection of domain name selection with the company strategy are further new findings. Based on own analysis and case studies, the author concludes, that there is a relatively strong dependency of the number of registered domains under the respective TLD on national economy characteristics and that the model of the relationship of a ccTLD registry and respective government significantly varies in particular countries. This is due to the historical development and national specifics. The author further came to the conclusion, that national and generic TLDs are partially substitutes and partially complements on national markets. It depends on concrete market and the degree of ccTLD liberalisation, because generic TLDs act as substitutes to the country code TLD on not liberalised markets and/or where the ccTLD is rather expensive. As for the liberalised markets, the growth of a ccTLD goes hand in hand with the growth of gTLD and they compete less. National TLDs of the EU countries and the European TLD .eu show the nature of complements according to the statistical analysis. There are significant theoretical and practical contributions of this work because of its wide content and original analysis in this field. The findings can be practically used for registry benchmarking and ideas related to the delegation of new top level domains.

The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) has been designed for reliable data transport over the Internet. The performance of TCP is strongly influenced by its congestion control algorithms that limit the amount of traffic a sender can transmit based on end-to-end available capacity estimations. These algorithms proved successful in environments where applications rate requirements can be easily anticipated, as is the case for traditional bulk data transfer or interactive applications. However, an important new class of Internet applications has emerged that exhibit significant variations of transmission rate over time. Variable-rate traffic poses a new challenge for congestion control, especially for applications that need to share the limited capacity of a bottleneck over a long delay Internet path (e.g., paths that include satellite links). This thesis first analyses TCP performance of bursty applications that do not send data continuously, but generate data in bursts separated by periods in which little or no data is sent. Simulation analysis shows that standard TCP methods do not provide efficient support for bursty applications that produce variable-rate traffic, especially over long delay paths. Although alternative forms of congestion control like TCP-Friendly Rate Control and the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol have been proposed, they did not achieve widespread deployment. Therefore many current applications that rely upon User Datagram Protocol are not congestion controlled. The use of non-standard or proprietary methods decreases the effectiveness of Internet congestion control and poses a threat to the Internet stability. Solutions are therefore needed to allow bursty applications to use TCP. Chapter three evaluates Congestion Window Validation (CWV), an IETF experimental specification that was proposed to improve support for bursty applications over TCP. It concluded that CWV is too conservative to support many bursty applications and does not provide an incentive to encourage use by application designers. Instead, application designers often avoid generating variable-rate traffic by padding idle periods, which has been shown to waste network resources. CWV is therefore shown to not provide an acceptable solution for variable-rate traffic. In response to this shortfall, a new modification to TCP, TCP-JAGO, is proposed. This allows variable-rate traffic to restart quickly after an inactive (i.e., idle) period and to effectively utilise available network resources while sending at a lower rate than the available rate (i.e., during an application-limited period). The analysis in Chapter five shows that JAGO provides faster convergence to a steady-state rate and improves throughput by more efficiently utilising the network. TCP-JAGO is also shown to provide an appropriate response when congestion is experienced after restart. Variable-rate TCP traffic can also be impacted by the Initial Window algorithm at the start or during the restart of a session. Chapter six considers this problem, where TCP has no prior indication of the network state. A recent proposal for a larger initial window is analysed. Issues and advantages of using a large IW over a range of scenarios are discussed. The thesis concludes by presenting recommendations to improve TCP support for bursty applications. This also provides an incentive for application designers to choose TCP for variable-rate traffic.

This thesis explores regulatory mechanisms of managing the phenomenon of file sharing in the online environment without impeding key aspects of digital innovation, utilising a modified version of Lessig’s modalities of regulation to demonstrate significant asymmetries in various regulatory approaches. After laying the foundational legal context, the boundaries of future reform are identified as being limited by extra-jurisdictional considerations, and the regulatory direction of legal strategies to which these are related are linked with reliance on design-based regulation. The analysis of the plasticity of this regulatory form reveals fundamental vulnerabilities to the synthesis of hierarchical and architectural constraint, that illustrate the challenges faced by the regulator to date by countervailing forces. Examination of market-based influences suggests that the theoretical justification for the legal regulatory approach is not consistent with academic or policy research analysis, but the extant effect could impede openness and generational waves of innovation. A two-pronged investigation of entertainment industry-based market models indicates that the impact of file sharing could be mitigated through adaptation of the traditional model, or that informational decommodification could be harnessed through a suggested alternative model that embraces the flow of free copies. The latter model demonstrates how the interrelationships between extant network effects and sub-model externalities can be stimulated to maximise capture of revenue without recourse to disruption. The challenges of regulating community-based norms are further highlighted where the analysis submits that the prevalence of countervailing forces or push-back from the regulated act as an anti-constraint to hierarchical and design-based regulation, due to an asymmetry between legal, architectural and traditional market-based approaches, and effective control of the file sharing community. This thesis argues that file sharing can be regulated most efficaciously by addressing this asymmetry through alternative market-based strategies. This can be influenced through extending hierarchical regulation to offer alternative legal and norm-based models that complement, rather than disrupt, the community-based norms of file sharing.

The systematic monitoring of citizens by the state in Peru was revealed in 2000, after the collapse of the second administration of ex-president Alberto Fujimori (1995-2000). Fujimori resigned in his last year in office, after a network of government espionage and corruption was revealed. This included video recordings of secret meetings and alleged communications surveillance conducted and managed by presidential advisor Vladimiro Montesinos, working with the National Intelligence Service (SIN). This systematic surveillance by the state resulted in the dissemination of private information, recordings and videos of public officials, journalists and many other influential people. These events sparked the beginning of the debate around the purpose of surveillance in Peru, and the violation of the right to private communications by state agencies and private entities – and what legislation could be developed to regulate this. This discussion is ongoing, with more cases of communications interception being revealed.

Många självklarheter i vårt digitala samhälle är beroende av Internet för att fungera. Allt från smarta dörrar för hemtjänster, till självscanningsapparaterna på ICA, till nyare bilar, moderna tillverkningsrobotar, telefoner och affärssystem. Den här licentiatavhandlingen reder ut vad Internet är, hur det styrs och vad det har för praktiska konsekvenser. Tidigare forskning finns bland annat inom telekommunikation där Internet liknas vid andra telekommunikationstjänster, så som kabel-TV eller mobiltelefoni, och inom digitalisering både inom management och informationssystem där Internet i det närmaste tas för givet som teknisk infrastruktur. Här tar jag en ansatts där jag förklarar Internet ur ett kombinerat tekniskt och organisatoriskt perspektiv. Studien är principiellt uppdelad i tre delar. Den första delen fokuserar på att begreppsmässigt hitta ett sätt att diskutera Internet utan att essentiella aspekter faller bort, såsom styrningen eller konsekvenser av den tekniska designen. Jag landar i att Internet är både ett tekniskt och ett organisatoriskt fenomen. Tekniskt i bemärkelsen att det handlar om digital paketbaserad kommunikation (dvs att olika paket kan ta olika väg och att det inte finns ett beroende på en viss specifik väg, eller “krets”), vilket kan särskiljas från exempelvis kretskopplad kommunikation (dvs en specific väg från sändare till mottagare) eller rent analog kommunikation. I denna tekniska dimension är Internet förhållandevis likt klassisk telekommunikation såsom kabel-TV och mobiltelefoni, och förlitar sig på best-effort paketbaserad kommunikation. I den andra dimensionen, styrning och organisation, är Internet ett explicit bottom-up fenomen som styrs med andra principer och ideal än klassisk telekommunikation. Till sin utformning är denna minsta möjliga koordination som krävs för att möjliggöra koordinering av de tekniska unika identifierare som behövs för att Internet ska fungera (dvs idag DNS- och BGP-flororna av protokoll för användning av namn och nummer på Internet). Båda dimensionerna, de organisatoriska och tekniska, följer samma designprinciper, och generellt är det meningsfullt att se Internet som en ekologi av aktörer snarare än en organisation i strikt teoretiska termer (exempelvis finns ingen tydlig övergripande strategi, organisationsnummer eller löneutbetalare). Det är dessa designprinciper, som ligger väl i linje med systemarkitektursprinciper för datorsystem, som är orsaken till Internets lager-design där man (generellt) inte ska bry som om vad som händer på andra lager än sitt eget (beskrivet som “separation of concerns” eller i dubbel negation “high cohesion” i texten) samt att ha en minimalistisk ansatts till koordinering och enbart koordinera eller skapa beroenden mellan enheter (både tekniskt och organisatoriskt) när det verkligen behövs (beskrivet som “minimum coordination” eller “low coupling” i texten).  Den andra delen fokuserar på hur Internet kan socialt påverkas eller förändras till något annat, eller till något med en annan funktion sett som en styrd organisation. Jag använder begreppet social robusthet, som motpol till teknisk robusthet som i hur man tekniskt kan förstöra Internet, för att diskutera dessa aspekter. Slutsatserna här mynnar ut i att Internets explicita bottom-up och problemsuppdelnings-design gör det märkbart svårt för någon att medvetet påverka Internet för att ändra dess beskaffenhet, och dessutom visar jag att även om man praktiskt lyckas ta över de formellt beslutande råden (exempelvis ICANNs och IETFs styrelser) så finns det inga formella eller praktiska hinder för att bara ignorera dem (dvs switching costs för just ICANN eller IETF är låga, om än tekniskt omständligt med att konfigurera om rötter och routing-tabeller, och betydligt enklare än att gå från IPv4 till IPv6 då utrustning kan behöva ersättas och därmed en betydligt högre switching cost). Med andra ord, det är enklare att byta ut Internets koordinerare än att byta ut Internet mot något som fungerar annorlunda. Däremot är den rådande politiska världsordningen ett hot mot Internet, eftersom den regelstyrda och koordinerade världsordningen inte längre är lika självklar som den varit tidigare.  Den tredje och sista studien fokuserar på nätneutralitet, dvs rätten nätverksoperatörer har att fånga värde i andra dimensioner än trafikmängd, som en praktiskt effekt av hur Internet styrs och fungerar. Det primära praktiska bidraget är att nätneutralitet inte får ses som enbart en reglerings och lagstiftningfråga utan det är mer relevant att prata om i termer av nätneutralitet i praktiken. I den bemärkelsen är lagstiftningens vara eller inte vara mindre intressant än praktisk nätneutralitets vara eller inte vara och en tyngdpunktsförskjutning i den offentliga debatten hade fört diskussionen närmare hur Internet fungerar. Sammanfattningsvis ger Internets designprinciper att marknadskrafter, och ej direkt reglering, ska möjliggöra nätneutralitet. För att förtydliga, tanken är att det ska finnas konkurrens inom de flesta nivåer eller lager, och att det är av vikt att det finns konkurrens rakt igenom så att en kundvilja för paketneutralitet på tjänstenivå även påverkar nätägar- och infrastrukturnivå, så att det är användarnas efterfrågan som leder till nätneutralitet (om den användarviljan finns). Dock kan det mycket väl vara så att man som användare inte är intresserad av nätneutralitet och då ska tjänsteleverantörer, nätägare och infrastrukturoperatörer inte heller tvingas vara neutrala genom lagstiftning då det går stick i stäv med designprinciperna. Inte heller ska en grupps vilja kring nätneutralitet påverka andras möjligheter att välja. Genomgående identifierar jag två kolliderande världsbilder, den distribuerade regelstyrda och koordinerade ordningen i sitt perspektiv med sina förkämpar, och den mer integrerande och suveräna världsordningen med sitt perspektiv och sina förkämpar. Rent praktiskt uppfyller Internet en önskad funktion i den tidigare men ej i den senare, då Internet designmässigt är byggt för att tillåta snarare än kontrollera och bestämma. Exempelvis finns det inte inbyggda (tekniska) mekanismer i Internet för att till exempel möjliggöra statlig övervakning eller kontroll av material som finns tillgängligt, och då ligger det mer i statens intresse att ha kontrollerade telekommunikationstjänster, såsom kabel-TV, mobiltelefoni och liknande lösningar där man inte helt enkelt kan lägga på ett “extra lager” för att uppnå kryptering, anonymitet eller tillgång till andra tjänster. I texten använder jag perspektiven tillsammans med teknologi, marknader och byråkrati för att fånga upp dynamiken och strömningarna i Internet-ekologin och jämför med tekniska samhällsförändringar, som exempelvis järnvägsnät, postverk och finansiella marknader. Jag konstaterar att Internet har varit styrt av teknologiskt baserade värderingar, till skillnad från de andra exemplen som i huvudsak har utformats av dynamiken mellan byråkrati och marknad. I denna mån förelår jag att teknologi kan användas som strömning och motperspektiv till den klassiska uppställningen med byråkrati och marknad för att beskriva fenomen i digitaliseringens tidsålder. Avhandlingen sätter även pågående trender i ett bredare perspektiv mot både organisation och teknik, och trycker på vikten av att förstå delarna var för sig och tillsammans för att på ett rikare sätt måla upp helheten. / The modern society is to a large extent Internet-dependent. Today we rely on the Internet to handle communication for smart doors, self-scanning convenience stores, connected cars, production robots, telephones and ERP-systems. The purpose of this thesis is to unbundle the Internet, its technology, its coordination, and practical and theoretical consequences. Earlier research has, in telecommunications, focused on the Internet as one of many potential telecommunications services, such as cellphones or cable-TV, and the management and information systems field has by and large treated the Internet as black-boxable infrastructure. This thesis explains the Internet from the combined perspectives of technology and coordination. This text contains three empirical studies. The first is focused on conceptualizing and discussing the Internet in a meaningful way using both technology and coordination frameworks. I unceremoniously conclude that the Internet is both a technological and a coordination phenomenon and neither of these aspects can be ignored. The Internet is technological in that it concerns digital packet switched digital communication (as opposed to circuit switched) or purely analog communications. The technological dimension of the Internet is similar in its constituency to classical telecommunications networks, and has best-effort mechanisms for packet delivery. In the other dimension, coordination, the Internet is an explicit bottom-up phenomenon minimally coordinated (or governed) by other ideals than classical telecommunications networks and systems. At its core this least necessary coordination concerns technical unique identifiers necessary for inter-network communication (in practice today manifested as naming with the DNS protocol suite, and numbering with the BGP protocol suite). Both dimensions follow similar design characteristics; the design of the technical Internet is similar to the design of the coordination of the Internet. These design principles, which are well aligned with software design principles, is the cause of the Internet’s layered design (“separation of concerns” in practice) and minimal view of coordination (the “least coordinated Internet”). In general terms it is fruitful to view the Internet and involved actors as an ecology, rather than one organization or entity in need of governance or control. The second study looks at the social resilience of the Internet. That is, is it possible through social means to change what the Internet is or can be viewed as. I use social resilience as a counterpart to technical resilience, i.e. resilience to technical interference. In essence, the bottom-up and separations of concerns design of the coordination aspect of the Internet minimizes possible influence of actors intent on mission disruption. I also practically show that even a take-over of the central councils have little effect the constituency of the Internet, since these councils are not invested with formal powers of enforcement. This thesis suggests that the cost of switching from ICANN and IETF to another set of organizations is quite low due to the nature of the coordination of the Internet, compared to for example, switching all equipment to IPv6 capable equipment. However, the current political situation is a threat to the current Internet regime, since an international and rule-based world order is no longer on all states’ agendas. The final empirical study focus on the practical and theoretical implications of the Internet on the case of net neutrality. The primary contribution is that de facto and de jure net neutrality differ in practice, and as such de facto net neutrality deserves more attention. Also, I suggest that any regulation, either for or against net neutrality, is problematic, since such regulation would interfere with the inherent coordination mechanisms of the Internet. As such regulation should focus on providing the necessary markets for Internet function given the coordination and design of the Internet. As a net neutrality example, net neutral Internet access options should exist as part of a natural service offering if wanted by customers, not due to direct regulation. Throughout the thesis I identify two colliding world orders, both in terms of digital communication networks and terms of organizing society in general: the rule-based and coordinating order with its champions, and the integrated or sovereign order with its champions. In practical terms, the Internet can be considered a want in the former (the distributed perspective), but not the later (the integrative perspective), since the Internet lacks inherent (technical) controls for surveillance and content control which are necessary in a world order where borders are important. Regardless of if that importance stems from state oversight or intellectual property rights legislation. I use these perspectives together with technology, markets and bureaucracy to catch the dynamics of the Internet ecology. I then compare these dynamics with other technological and societal phenomena, such as railway networks, postal services and financial markets. And conclude that the Internet (as conceptualized in this thesis) can best be explained by technological values, in opposite to the other examples which can best by explained by the dynamics of markets and bureaucracies without any real influence of the values of technology. As such, I suggest that the classical frame of markets and bureaucracy can fruitfully be expanded with technology to better explain the Internet and similar digitization phenomena. This thesis puts current trends in a broader perspective based on technology and organization, where the two perspectives together better can draw the full picture in a rich fashion.

O objetivo desse trabalho é relacionar o tema da Governança da Internet com a literatura de análise de Sistema-Mundo, focando na forma como a expansão da Internet afeta as estruturas de poder nas relações internacionais. A pesquisa visa contribuir para a agenda de pesquisa no Brasil sobre a melhor compreensão da prática da Governança da Internet no mundo. Nesse sentido, a problemática que motivou essa pesquisa parte dos questionamentos de quem governa a Governança da Internet. Quais os grupos de interesses que disputam e moldam as diferentes áreas de governanças da Internet e sua arquitetura? Como que as práticas reais da governança da Internet impactam as relações entre o centro e periferia das relações internacionais? A metodologia empregada, para tanto, foi uma revisão bibliográfica referente ao desenvolvimento da Internet, seu histórico, características funcionalidades técnicas; análise documental; e observação participante em fóruns e atividades de organizações que constituem o denominado ecossistema da Internet. Como referencial teórico, o trabalho utiliza Teoria de Redes e análise de Sistema-Mundo. O trabalho introduz algumas noções sobre a construção, evolução da Internet e de como ela funciona para evidenciar os contornos geográficos que a arquitetura da Internet possui devido a concentração assimétrica do controle sobre alguns nodos. A partir disso, apresenta a Internet enquanto uma das sínteses entre o desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias e da retomada de um movimento de cercamento dos bens comuns intangíveis, na medida em que ela é, ao mesmo tempo, causa e consequência desse processo que influencia a reorganização do capitalismo. Por fim, apresentando como considerações finais algumas ponderações sobre a discussão acumulada ao longo da dissertação, sugerindo uma agenda de pesquisa para aprofundar questões levantadas nesse trabalho. / The objective of this work it to relate the Inernet Governance thematic with the World-System Analysis literature, focusing on how the Internet expansion influence the powers structures of International Relations. The research aims to contribute for the research agenda in Brazil about a better comprehension of the Internet Governance practice in the world. In this sense, the motivation of this research parts from questioning whom governs the Internet Governance. Witch groups of interest dispute and shape the different areas of Internet Governance and its architecture? How the real Internet Governance practice impact the relation between center and periphery in international relations? The methodology used, therefore, was a bibliography review on Internet development, its history, technical functions; documental analysis; and participant observation in forums and activities of organizations that constitutes the so called Internet ecosystem. As theoretical framework, the work use the Network Theory and System- World Analysis. The work introduce some notions about the Internet construction and evolution, and how it works, to to highlight the geographical contours that the architecture of the Internet has due to asymmetric concentration of control over some nodes. From this, presents the Internet as one of the synthesis between the development of new technologies and the resumption of a movement of enclosure of the intangible Commons, as it is both cause and consequence of this process which influences the reorganization of capitalism. At last, presents as final considerations some thoughts about the discussion accumulated along the dissertation discussion, suggesting a research agenda to study issues raised in this work.

A pergunta que move este trabalho é se existem indícios, na atual construção argumentativa sobre a regulação internacional da internet, da conformação de um regime internacional da internet. Para respondê-la, o primeiro passo é explorar os significados do fenômeno da fragmentação do direito internacional. A partir da identificação de algumas linhas de pensamento, este trabalho adota o diagnóstico de que a fragmentação do direito internacional se liga a uma transposição da diferenciação funcional social para o campo do direito. Dessa forma, trabalhar com o direito internacional fragmentado exige levar em conta a presença de regimes diversos, constituídos por construções argumentativas movidas por um ethos próprio. Esses regimes produzem linguagem técnica que leva a um gerencialismo e que se volta contra outras linguagens, gerando disputas hegemônicas. Para o jurista, é essencial assumir seu papel dentro das construções argumentativas, tomando consciência da política dos regimes e utilizando instrumentos interdisciplinares que atinjam também o que é rotulado como não-direito. Uma vez definida, esta abordagem é aplicada para o estudo da regulação internacional da internet, como um segundo passo deste trabalho. A análise começa pelas batalhas que foram travadas pela alma da internet desde sua criação e os atores envolvidos nessas batalhas. Depois, aborda as representações sobre a regulação da internet durante os períodos de desenvolvimento dessa tecnologia. Diante de uma previsão sobre o último período, começa a olhar para as construções sobre a internet desde 2011. Na literatura analisada, a internet é definida de acordo com o que compõe sua regulação, sua extensão e seus limites. A literatura aponta vários atores e instituições que participam dessa regulação e o Estado aparece com papéis variados, mas a governança multissetorial tem destaque. Os autores divergem ao falarem sobre a aplicação do direito internacional às questões que consideram mais importantes na internet. Eles discordam sobre os problemas da regulação, sobre se e quais direitos deveriam ser aplicados e como os atores devem agir para essa regulação. Contudo, todos têm o movimento de suas argumentações em comum. Todos constroem exceções quanto ao direito em geral quando pensam na melhor regulação para a internet. O terceiro passo da pesquisa é então analisar o que isso significa, tendo em mente o quadro teórico de que partiu. Ela conclui que há indícios da conformação de um regime internacional da internet, tendo em vista que a defesa da especialização do direito para a internet se move com um propósito comum de diferenciar o mundo online do mundo off-line. Finalmente, ela indica algumas agendas de pesquisa que podem ser adotadas a partir desses resultados / The question that drives this work is whether there is evidence, within the current argumentative construction on international Internet regulation, of an international internet regime. To answer that, the first step is to explore the meanings of the phenomenon of fragmentation in international law. After the identification of some schools of thought on the subject, this paper adopts the diagnosis that the fragmentation of international law is due to a transposition of social functional differentiation to the legal field. Given that, dealing with a fragmented international law requires taking into account the presence of various schemes, consisting of argumentative constructions driven by their own ethos. These schemes produce a technical language that leads to managerialism and that pits itself against other languages, generating hegemonic disputes. Lawyers should assume their role within these argumentative constructions, becoming aware of regimes politics and using interdisciplinary tools to reach also what is labeled as non-legal. This theoretical approach is applied to the international internet regulation, as the second step of this research. The analysis begins with the battles that were fought for the soul of the Internet since its inception and the actors involved in these battles. The paper then addresses the representations on the regulation of the Internet during periods of development of this technology. Faced with a prediction about the last period, it looks at the constructions on Internet since 2011. In the examined literature, the Internet is defined according to what constitutes its regulation, its extent and its limits. The literature points to several actors and institutions that participate in this regulation and the State appears with varying roles, but multi-sectorial governance has central emphasis. The authors diverge when discussing the application of international law to issues that they consider most important on the Internet. They disagree on the issues of regulation, on whether and which duties should be imposed and how actors should act towards this regulation. However, all of them have the movement of their arguments in common. All develop exceptions to international law when they elaborate about a better regulation for the Internet. The third step of the research is then to analyze what this means, bearing in mind the theoretical framework adopted. It concludes that there is evidence of the construction of an international regime of the internet, as long as the defense of internets specialty moves along with a common purpose to differentiate the online world from the offline world. Finally, the paper points to some research agendas that can be derived from its results.

Botnets represent one of the most serious threats against Internet security since they serve as platforms that are responsible for the vast majority of large-scale and coordinated cyber attacks, such as distributed denial of service, spamming, and information stolen. Detecting botnets is therefore of great importance and a number of network-based botnet detection systems have been proposed. However, as botnets perform attacks in an increasingly stealthy way and the volume of network traffic is rapidly growing, existing botnet detection systems are faced with significant challenges in terms of effectiveness and scalability. The objective of this dissertation is to build novel network-based solutions that can boost both the effectiveness of existing botnet detection systems by detecting botnets whose attacks are very hard to be observed in network traffic, and their scalability by adaptively sampling network packets that are likely to be generated by botnets. To be specific, this dissertation describes three unique contributions. First, we built a new system to detect drive-by download attacks, which represent one of the most significant and popular methods for botnet infection. The goal of our system is to boost the effectiveness of existing drive-by download detection systems by detecting a large number of drive-by download attacks that are missed by these existing detection efforts. Second, we built a new system to detect botnets with peer-to-peer (P2P) command&control (C&C) structures (i.e., P2P botnets), where P2P C&Cs represent currently the most robust C&C structures against disruption efforts. Our system aims to boost the effectiveness of existing P2P botnet detection by detecting P2P botnets in two challenging scenarios: i) botnets perform stealthy attacks that are extremely hard to be observed in the network traffic; ii) bot-infected hosts are also running legitimate P2P applications (e.g., Bittorrent and Skype). Finally, we built a novel traffic analysis framework to boost the scalability of existing botnet detection systems. Our framework can effectively and efficiently identify a small percentage of hosts that are likely to be bots, and then forward network traffic associated with these hosts to existing detection systems for fine-grained analysis, thereby boosting the scalability of existing detection systems. Our traffic analysis framework includes a novel botnet-aware and adaptive packet sampling algorithm, and a scalable flow-correlation technique.

published_or_final_version / Law / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy