Cyberspace & Sovereignty

The following sections are included:

• Words of the Author
• Contents
• Preface: A Study of Cyberspace Sovereignty and Plan for Fine Law and Good Governance

Ontology is the questioning of the nature of all things. Cyber ontology is the summarisation and description of the nature and physical existence of cyberspace, i.e. by describing the general elements of cyberspace to comprehensively perceive its physical appearance and, in a general sense, answer questions such as “what is cyberspace?”, “what kind of order exists in cyberspace?”, “what is the relationship between cyberspace and traditional sovereignty?”, and “what are the key elements of cyber sovereignty if it does exist and is tenable?”

A thorough study of questions concerning the ontology of cyberspace is the scientific premise of actively constructing fine law and good governance within cyberspace order. Cyber sovereignty is not a self-evident consensus; this is because the question of “what is cyberspace?” is perceived in different ways in various disciplines. Most people believe that cyberspace is equal to the Internet; however, for the disciplines of computer science, telecommunications science, management science, and sociology, cyberspace refers to the computer system, the telecommunication system, the big data system, and the space for public opinion, respectively.

The following sections are included:

• Section One: Invention of the Internet
• Section Two: Connection of Chinese Networks with the Internet
• Section Three: Globalisation of the Internet
• Section Four: Evolution of Cyber Security

Different countries have different perceptions and demands for cyber security. In order to recognise, express, and exchange their respective views toward cyber risks and defend cyber threats across the world, relevant organisations and member states of the United Nations (UN) have summarised their own cyber security interests and policy stances.

New advances in network technology have remoulded the modes of human activity and produced new forms of social order. Even the popularity of the Internet has brought about national security issues; cyber security issues have promoted the development of the traditional theory of sovereignty. Therefore, network popularisation, cyber security, and cyber sovereignty are closely linked to each other, impelling the continuous exploration of the sovereign theory…

Although the Internet is highly globalised, the sovereignty of the information of all countries should be respected. No matter how developed a country’s internet technology is, it must not violate the information sovereignty of others. No double standards should be allowed in upholding cyber security, and every country has the right to preserve its own information security. We cannot just have the security of one or some countries, leaving the rest insecure. And no country should seek the so-called absolute security of itself at the expense of the security of other countries.

The concept of cyberspace order embodies changes in the disciplines of the superstructure, such as politics, philosophy, economics, law, and society, as a result of the transformation of the basis of the cyber economy, which is driven by the improvement of scientific and technological productivity…

The relationship between cyber sovereignty and the rule of law in cyberspace is the relationship between theory and practice under actual cyberspace order. The rule of law in cyberspace is the practice of cyber sovereignty theories and the real reflection of the application of cyber sovereignty. As a “new sovereignty” theory, the theory of cyber sovereignty was developed at the beginning of the 21st century, but its mission to safeguard national security has been reflected in telecommunication laws over the past century. However, since virtual technology, wireless connections, and other communication protocol modes have not been substantially upgraded in the field of telecommunications and as traditional telecommunication security alone hardly posed a direct threat to the security of national sovereignty within the last century, there is no urgent need or objective basis for cyberspace legislation…

The rule of law in cyber sovereignty represents a new practice in which “sovereignty has jurisdiction over cyberspace”. Before the theory of cyber sovereignty took shape, the platform section of cyberspace was subject to the rule of law in telecommunication, the object section was grouped under the rule of law in intellectual property rights and information, and the subjects and activities were mainly governed by civil law and criminal law…

According to Karl Marx, human activities, or human labour, are divided into four types: production activity for reproduction, labour and practice activity, social relation production activity, and reproduction activity performed to save for the future…

The law of nature is the supreme order of the world. Although humans have discovered laws such as thermal energy conversion and energy conservation, there are still a great number of unknown natural laws…

There is a simple understanding of physical quantity that the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. However, according to Karl Marx, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, for the whole includes the unphysical consciousnesses emerging in the processes of awakening, cognition, self-consciousness, and self-conducted action on top of the physical consciousness. Marx also noted that these awakened consciousnesses comprise class consciousness, revolution consciousness, and freedom consciousness. In contemporary sovereign nations, these manifest themselves as the consciousness of overall planning in national security, the top priority for all countries. The key to the science of overall planning consists of the research and interpretation of the additions after adding all the parts together.

Cyberspace is both a new tool and a new method. Through labour, humans created all civilisations in the world that have constituted the total wealth of civilisation on Earth. Studies have shown that the civilisation on Earth since the emergence of human beings has accumulated at least 1.15 trillion “man-years”. At present, about 7 billion people live on the planet, with 140 million births and 57 million deaths each year. Everyone who ever existed contributed to the total amount of world civilisation just as we do today. Therefore, in the face of the future of the internet age, it is necessary to summarise the various relations between countries that were formed based on history from the perspective of the population through exchange and comparison and strive to discover, define, and clearly expound solutions to shed light on the direction and fairness pursued in international cyberspace governance that can facilitate and promote the development of civilisation.

The following sections are included:

• Appendix I: Report of the Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security
• Summary
• Foreword by the Secretary-General
• Bibliography