When law finally arrives, technology already moved on: Launching UN Global Mechanism on Cybersecurity (opens in new tab)

International law has a timing problem. When a new technology enables serious harm, the legal response follows a familiar sequence: harm occurs, victims and advocates demand action, legislators and treaty negotiators draft rules, states ratify and implement them. In a stable technological environment, this cycle eventually produces adequate governance. The problem of the digital age is that the technology rarely stays still long enough for the cycle to complete. By the time the legal norm arr...