Regulatory Models for the Cyberspace:Providing a Comprehensive Framework of Regulation for the National Environment

The cyberspace is a human ecosystem that is extremely complex. In such a space different paradigms, approaches and methods of regulation are possible. The regulatory paradigms of the cyberspace are based on two basic approaches, namely: cyber paternalism and cyber libertarianism. Under these two paradigms, different models for regulating the relationships of the cyberspace actors exist. This paper seeks to answer the fundamental questions of how law-making can take place in the dynamic, complex, and networked environments of the cyberspace? And which model can be applied as a desirable framework for regulating the cyberspace? The present study, which uses a comparative and descriptive method, evaluates different models of cyberspace regulation in order to obtain the desired model for Iran. The results show that due to the uncertainty and complexity of the cyberspace, a dynamic and flexible regulatory framework should be considered as a suitable regulatory model for the cyber environment both nationally and internationally. While Iran's approach to regulating the cyberspace at the national level should be based on the paternalistic paradigm, its approach at the international level should follow libertarianism.