The Spontaneous Evolution of Cyber Law.doc

The Spontaneous Evolution of Cyber Law: Norms, Property Rights, Contracting, Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Without the State* by Bruce L. Benson DeVoe Moore Distinguished Research Professor Department of Economics Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 32306 Phone: (850) 644-7094 e-mail: bbenson@ Web page: /~bbenson * This paper was prepared at the invitation of Peter Boettke, as a member of the Working Group on the Law, Economics and Technology of Private Contract Enforcement on the Internet, Critical Infrastructure Project, and for publication in the Journal of Law, Economics and Policy, July 2005. The Spontaneous Evolution of Cyber Law: Norms, Property Rights, Contracting, Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Without the State, by Bruce L. Benson Introduction An Economic Theory of Spontaneously Evolving Institutions: Property Rights, Contracts, and Customary Law II.1. The Evolution of Property Rights II.1.a. Externalities and the evolution of property rights II.1.b. Factors influencing the evolution of property rights II.1.c. The security of property rights II.2. Assurance Problems and Sources of Credibility in Contracting II.2.a. Building trust II.2.b. From trust to reputation and recourse II.2.c. Third party dispute resolution II.2.d. Recourse through contractual associations II.2.e. Customary Law II.2.f.. Polycentric governance II.2.g. An analogy for cyber law: the polycentric customary law of international trade Spontaneously Evolving Institutions in Cyberspace III.1. Evolving Property Rights in Cyberspace III.1.a. Externalities in cyberspace and the evolution of property rights III.1.b. Factors influencing the evolution of property rights in cyberspace III.1.c. The security of property rights in cyberspace III.2. Assurance Problems and Sources of Credibility in Cyber Contracting III.2.a. Building trust in cyberspace III.2.b. From trust to reputation and recourse in cyberspace III.2.c. Third party dispute resolution in