ABSTRACT
The Internet is a world-wide public access network of computers. The 'micro' denial that Internet law is a subject considers individual legal issues affecting users of the Internet, and seeks to show that they can be resolved without invoking any special legal principles. The 'macro' objection to 'Internet law' is less concerned with individual issues, though it draws on them to reach a grand conclusion; that there is something profoundly unlegal in using a real-world category like 'the Internet' to categorise and order legal thought. The chapter explains two insights for controlling Internet. The first insight, first elaborated in detail by Lessig, is that the design of computing systems is itself a major source of control. The second insight is that the Internet can be thought of as several discrete processes or layers. A dilemma for writers on Internet law is how far to speculate about improved or novel devices and programs that might be developed in the near future.
