Taking Empires Seriously : Three Missing Elements in Bradford's ‘Digital Empires’

Titelangaben

Reichman, Amnon ; Purnhagen, Kai:
Taking Empires Seriously : Three Missing Elements in Bradford's ‘Digital Empires’.
In: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht. Bd. 85 (2025) . - S. 949-959.
ISSN 0044-2348
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17104/0044-2348-2025-3-949

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Abstract

‘Digital Empires’ provides a compelling account of global regulatory competition in the data market and the enduring impact of the Brussels Effect. By developing the conceptual framework of the digital empire and by unpacking the logic of the main players, this innovative book offers terms for the transnational conversation on law, policy, and technology. We contend that taking the notion of ‘digital empires’ seriously – i. e., as a non-transient organising feature of the socio-economic digital landscape – attention should be paid to three elements the book either assumes or leaves under-explored: the cost and uncertainty of regulation, the fluidity of regional market competition, and the geopolitical implications of data colonialism. These factors are relevant to all three ‘imperial’ powers. For brevity, we will focus on the EU, and we will refrain from addressing the possible recent change of attitude by the Trump administration.