Where the wild things are: Evolving futures of communications regulation in the current national security context

In March 2008, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) released a report dealing with the possible implications of the 'top six trends' in communications and media technologies, applications and services. The report highlights the fact that key regulatory elements in the communications environment are being conceptually 'stretched and pulled' by the accelerating pace of change in communications technologies, applications and services. The report also notes that in the longer term, there will be increasing overlapping developments in technology and increasing interconnections between people, databases and objects. This article will explore the evolving futures of communications regulation in the current national security context by focusing on the post-'9/11' regulatory response in Australia. Communications have long been regarded as 'the fundamental cornerstone of intelligence and law enforcement'. For this reason, in the current national security context, this article will argue that the evolving futures of communications regulation will be increasingly calibrated with national security policy.