Yes, the Internet should make us question our existing notions of nation state sovereignty. Is the nation state something that has total (as in totalitarian) control over subjects? Or does the state derive its (limited) powers from the consent of the governed?
In the case of religion, we decided upon a separation of "church" and "state", that it was best not to mix the two. In other words, the Catholic hierarchy is something completely divorced from the ability of the state to regulate it.
In contrast, in China, the government is in control over who is the official Dalai Lama. No aspect of society is beyond state control.
The same question could be asked of things like bitcoin. Is this something where the government has total and absolute control? Or should there be a separation of "finance" and "state"?
A wide variety of other issues on the Internet, like privacy and security, fall under the same issue. On one hand, our government won't really protect you from hackers, unless you have some sort of political clout with them. But they bar you from defending yourself "hack back".
