Network Neutrality Principle as a Regulatory Tool: Implications for Crime Prevention and Criminal Law Enforcement

The aim of this contribution is to explore the possibility of using the well known concept of network neutrality (i.e., the property of a network infrastructure ignoring the content of the data packet it manages and being independent from legislative intervention) as a regulatory principle which goes beyond the contexts in which it is usually applied (namely, communication, antitrust and contract law) in order to be also applied to crime prevention and criminal law enforcement. The contribution of the paper is threefold: (i) it provides a definition of the principle of neutrality, (ii) it discusses the possibility of using neutrality as a key concept to address the problem of criminal responsibility of Internet providers (both at judiciary and legislative level), and (iii) it outlines the conceptual, empirical, and analytical tools for the effective implementation of public policy initiatives in the field of cybercrime prevention. Three case studies are also presented and discussed.