@article{ART003274378},
author={Yoon Sang Pil},
title={Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways},
journal={Legal Theory & Practice Review},
issn={2288-1840},
year={2025},
volume={13},
number={4},
pages={57-98}
TY - JOUR
AU - Yoon Sang Pil
TI - Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways
JO - Legal Theory & Practice Review
PY - 2025
VL - 13
IS - 4
PB - The Korea Society for Legal Theory and Practice Inc.
SP - 57
EP - 98
SN - 2288-1840
AB - Amid the rapid expansion of the spyware trade market and the growing concern over human rights violations such as unlawful surveillance, the international regulatory landscape is undergoing notable changes. This study analyzes the current dynamics of the spyware market and classifies emerging regulatory trends into distinct typologies in order to propose a set of rational control measures.
While engagement with the evolving global regulatory framework is necessary, it is imperative that individual states first establish robust domestic capabilities. Market regulation cannot progress in isolation but must evolve in parallel with multilateral discourse. The current regulatory regime is characterized by a complex mix of enhanced export control measures and direct sanctions against specific companies and individuals.
In the long term, the international community must ultimately adopt a strategy aimed at the formalization and legalization of the spyware market. Such an approach would help prevent the abusive use of spyware technologies by sovereign actors. To this end, individual states should institutionalize internal systems that clearly define the authority and oversight over the use of spyware, ensure that domestic entities refrain from transactions with companies known to have engaged in misuse, and regulate outbound transactions with foreign states implicated in human rights abuses.
At the international level, there is a pressing need to establish a dedicated treaty body tasked with the development of common standards for contracting parties, enforcement of reporting obligations, provision of technical and institutional support to promote treaty implementation, and centralized management of information related to spyware technologies and their global trade.
KW - Spyware;Commercial Spyware;Cyber Surveillance Items;Spyware Industry;Spyware Market Regulation
DO -
UR -
ER -
Yoon Sang Pil. (2025). Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways. Legal Theory & Practice Review, 13(4), 57-98.
Yoon Sang Pil. 2025, "Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways", Legal Theory & Practice Review, vol.13, no.4 pp.57-98.
Yoon Sang Pil "Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways" Legal Theory & Practice Review 13.4 pp.57-98 (2025) : 57.
Yoon Sang Pil. Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways. 2025; 13(4), 57-98.
Yoon Sang Pil. "Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways" Legal Theory & Practice Review 13, no.4 (2025) : 57-98.
Yoon Sang Pil. Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways. Legal Theory & Practice Review, 13(4), 57-98.
Yoon Sang Pil. Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways. Legal Theory & Practice Review. 2025; 13(4) 57-98.
Yoon Sang Pil. Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways. 2025; 13(4), 57-98.
Yoon Sang Pil. "Understanding the Global Spyware Market and Regulatory Pathways" Legal Theory & Practice Review 13, no.4 (2025) : 57-98.
