The technologies emerging from the information technology and bitechnology revolutions present unprecedented goverance challenges to national and international political systems. It is clear that technological innovations are not always benign, and regulations can be an effective way to serve societal objectives. But regulating new technologies can be challenging and can have unintended consequences, which may be as troublesome to society as the problems the regulations were intended to prevent. Accommodating both perspectives raises difficult and complex issues for those who would offer governance approaches.