California was the first US state to adopt rules prohibiting electronics disposal in 2003. The regulation also aimed to provide financial relief to parties responsible for managing and recycling consumer e-waste, decrease the number of hazardous materials in devices, and foster cost-free recycling opportunities for consumers throughout the state, to name a few.
Timeline
UN General Assembly endorses the holding of WSIS
In June 2001, the ITU Council endorses the ITU Secretary-General’s proposal to hold WSIS in two phases, in 2003 and 2005. Later in the year, the UN General Assembly, through Resolution 56/183, also endorses the holding of WSIS in two phases. It invites the ITU to ‘assume the leading managerial role’ in preparing WSIS. It also invites and encourages governments, UN bodies, other intergovernmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, civil society, and the private sector to contribute to the summit and its preparatory process.
Budapest Convention on Cybercrime signed
On 23 November 2001, the Convention on Cybercrime was signed by the member States of the Council of Europe and other states, in Budapest. 
Wikipedia is born
Wikipedia was initially conceived as a feeder project for Nupedia, an earlier free Web-based encyclopedia. There was considerable resistance on the part of Nupedia’s editors and reviewers to associate Nupedia with a wiki-style website. They decided to give the new project its own name, and thus on Monday 15th January 2001, Wikipedia launched on its own domain, wikipedia.com.
Developments in the field of information and Telecommunications in the context of international security (UN GA Resolution A/RES/53/70 )
A proposal to address cybersecurity at the United Nations was made by Russia on 30th September 1998. It was formally adopted by the UNGA Resolution A/RES/53/70 on 4th January 1999.
Decision to organise WSIS
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference held in November 1998 in Minneapolis puts the basis of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Adopted at the conference, Resolution 73:
– Instructs the ITU Secretary-General ‘to place the question of holding a world summit on the information society on the agenda of the United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination;
– Instructs the ITU Council to ‘consider and decide on the Union’s contribution to the holding of a world summit on the information society’.
UN begins to address cybersecurity
UN starts addressing cybersecurity issues
A proposal to address cybersecurity at the United Nations was made by Russia on 30th September 1998. It was formally adopted by the UNGA Resolution A/RES/53/70 on 4th January 1999.
WTO E-Commerce Moratorium
The World Trade Organization (WTO) adopts the Declaration on Global Electronic Commerce introducing a moratorium on duties in global e-commerce. This moratorium has been extended ever since.
Cybersecurity at the United Nations
Cybersecurity/information security makes it to the agenda of the UN in 1998, when the Russian Federation introduces a draft resolution in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly. The resolution is adopted without a vote. Later on, several intergovernmental processes – six Groups of Governmental Experts and two Open-Ended Working Groups – are established to address issues related to the use of ICTs in the context of international security.