Online Worlds and Emerging Technologies: Law Regulation

This book introduces the legal and regulatory questions raised by online digital worlds and emerging technologies. Its central concern is how law and regulation respond when social, commercial, and public activity moves into digital environments that are fast-moving, data-driven, platform-mediated, and often cross-border. Written for university and further education students studying cyber law, information technology law, and related subjects, it offers an accessible, UK-focused account supported by comparative and international perspectives. The book asks readers to consider who controls online spaces, how responsibility should be allocated, how users can be protected, and how legal and regulatory systems can respond without undermining innovation, access and fundamental rights. Topics covered include: - Online ecosystems, including walled gardens, splinternets, gaming environments and the metaverse.- Regulatory challenges arising from technological disruption, platform accountability, net neutrality and cross-border activity.- Digital information and data governance, including profiling, surveillance, data protection and cybersecurity.- Cyber-dependent crime, including computer misuse, hacking and denial-of-service attacks.- Online speech, social media, platform responsibility and the legal limits of digital expression.- E-commerce, digital assets, electronic payments and online dispute resolution.- Interconnected technology, immersive environments and the regulation of artificial intelligence systems.The core aim is to equip readers to (1) analyse online environments and new technologies and (2) explore how we can design regulatory frameworks that can respond to digital disruption in a practical, adaptive and contextual way.