Standards, Regulations, and Net Neutrality in the Digital Economy

The digital economy is one of the fastest growing segments of the economy. It includes the production, trade, and transportation of digital goods and services, as well as online ordering of physical goods — also known as e-commerce. The digital economy is made possible by key technologies such as the Internet and mobile communications. One of the success factors of the digital economy is the Internet as an open platform for conducting business and innovation. A key ingredient in the evolution of the open Internet is standardization. In its early stage, the digital economy was an open marketplace with few market regulations. However, as the digital economy is expanding in size and scope, increased regulation of digital markets is taking place in many parts of the world.

This paper examines standardization and regulation efforts in the digital economy, in particular, the impact these standards and regulations have on the evolution of digital markets. The paper first presents the technological infrastructure underpinning the Internet and its corresponding business landscape, followed by a discussion of the role regulations and, in particular, net neutrality play in innovation and the evolution of digital businesses.