The cyberspace, the cyber world, is meant to be a place outside of jurisdiction, borders and law of the conventional world. But increasingly, the internet is becoming restricted and controlled, both by who can access it and what you can access. These restrictions are coming from the western world, and are increasingly influencing the shape of cyberspace. This discovery, that I am becoming more and more American, came to me very recently.

The video game, Sleeping Dogs, is set within Hong Kong. It is open world, and features much driving across the large city, which was British in rule for a period in time. As such, the people of Hong Kong drive on the left, much like here in Australia. But after every car I ‘acquire’, I instinctively pull onto the right side of the road and speed into a head-on collision, forgetting that many cities worldwide don’t drive on…