In the Jungle of the Unregulated: Towards Extra-Legal Regulatory Approaches in Addressing ‘Cybercrime’

As the incidence and the cost of cybercrime keeps growing, the traditional legal model based on the command-and-control approach to regulation experiences major difficulties in curbing further inflation of the phenomenon. The article argues that the traditional legal approach that grounds its authority in enforcement is a poor option for regulation of online human interaction. By considering alternative avenues in influencing online behavior – community-, competition-, and design-based regulation – the article suggests reconsideration of our public policies and regulatory approaches to cybercrime. In doing so, the article offers a thorough interdisciplinary reflection on the idiosyncrasies of human interaction in network environments and its psychological implications, concluding that other regulatory powers may present more effective response to the problem of cybercrime. The holistic regulatory regime that the article advocates incorporates and coordinates all regulatory powers that exist in our societies in order to address the underlying cause of cybercrime.