Community Node-Based User Governance (CNBUG): Applying Craigslist's Techniques to Decentralized Internet Governance

Abstract

In the Accountable Internet: Peer Production of Internet Governance, Cyberlaw-scholars Professors David R. Johnson, Susan P. Crawford, & John G. Palfrey Jr. suggest decentralized governance and user accountability as a means of governing the Internet. While advantageous over existing centralized models, Peer Production model also suffers from significant practical shortcomings that would make it unlikely to be adopted as a global means of Internet governance. A new model, Community Node-Based User Governance (CNBUG), inspired by Peer Production's decentralized model, consists of three principal components that establish its effectiveness: decentralized user-dependent governance, geographic nodal-centered communities, and quorum flagging, similar to that employed by Craigslist.org, an online community information Web site. These three components work together to establish a means of Internet governance that unlike its predecessors, does not chill speech or isolate users, integrates decision-making accountability, allows for the participation and integration of developing nations, represents global community standards, allows for concurrent online and territorial enforcement, and protects users from bad actors; all while preserving the Internet's fundamental purpose and nature, and also leaving intact its considerable business and technical infrastructure.