Editors' note

• Author: Yu Wenguang - Tian Wei - Christoph Krönke - Michael W. Müller
• Pages: 7-18

FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA

VOL. 13 SEPTEMBER 2018 NO. 3

DOI 10.3868/s050-007-018-0024-1

SPECIAL ISSUE

PARADIGMS OF INTERNET REGULATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND CHINA

EDITORS’ NOTE

YU Wenguang*, TIAN Wei**, Christoph Krönke***, Michael W. Müller****

In view of the increasing importance of internet services for every society’s economic,

social, cultural and even political development and well-being, governments need to

address fundamental questions: Who is responsible for setting the rules governing internet

communication — the government or economic operators? What should the future order

of public communication on the internet look like? Who will have rightful control over

personal data and other intangible goods that can easily be reproduced and transported

around the globe in the blink of an eye? Moreover, the internet is perceived as a critical

infrastructure in need of protection (e.g. from terrorist attacks) and which is, thereby, a

matter of national security policy. Taking into account the regulatory principles in the

European Union (EU) and China in general, we would expect that the approaches taken

by European countries and in China to address issues of internet regulation could not

have been more different.

BACKGROUND: CYBERLIBERTARIANISM AND CYBERPATERNALISM

The starting point of internet regulation in the EU seems to be economic freedom and

competition (“Cyberlibertarianism”). Regardless of whether it is the regulatory

frameworks of telecommunication infrastructure or the regulations on telemedia services

— any governmental interference with the free exercise of economic activities in these

areas requires specific legal justification. As a result, legislators and authorities have to

* (󰉜) Dr. jur., Faculty of Law, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Associate

Professor, School of Law, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China. Contact: yu_wenguang

@hotmail.com

** (󱈅) LL.M., School of Law, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; Ph.D. candidate, School of

Law, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China. Contact: tianwei0318@sina.com

*** Christoph Krönke, Dr. jur., Faculty of Law, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Postdoc. (Akademischer

Rat a.Z.), Faculty of Law, LMU Munich, Munich 80539, Germany. Contact: christoph.kroenke@jura.uni-

muenchen.de

****

Michael W. Müller, LL.M., Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; M.A., Faculty

of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and the Study of Religion, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Ph.D.

candidate, Faculty of Law, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Law Clerk, Higher Regional Court of Munich,

Munich 80335, Germany. Contact: mwm@cantab.net