Law and Internet Cultures

This 2005 book is about the internet and the technological and cultural baggage that comes along with it.

Kathy Bowrey (Author)

9780521600484, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 May 2005

252 pages, 25 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.38 kg

'This is a well-written and highly readable book. … It is a book for large groups of academics, activists, businessmen, lobbyists, politicians and technologists … Even those who have heard them before will take something new with them from reading this book.' Web Journal of Current Legal Issues

This 2005 book raises the profile of socio-political questions about the global technology and information market. It is a close study of communication flows, networks, nodes, biopolitics and the fragmentations of power. It brings to life the role played by personalities, corporate interactions, industry compromises and the regulatory incompetencies, affecting the technological world we all live in. US technology powers the internet and disseminates American culture on an unprecedented scale. Assessing this power requires an analysis of the diffuse ways that US practice, policy and law dominates, and a consideration of how influence is negotiated and resisted locally. This involves a discussion about how ideas about trade and innovation circulate; of the social power of engineers that establish conventions and protocols; of the reach of Leviathan corporations; and questions about global marketing and consumer tastes. For readers interested in intellectual property law, information technology, cultural studies, globalisation and mass communications.

List of illustrations and tables
Acknowledgements
1. Defining internet law
2. Defining internet cultures
3. Universal standards and the end of the universe: the IETF, global governance and patents
4. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds
5. In a world without fences who needs Gates?
6. Telling tales: digital piracy and the law
7. Participate/comply/resist
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Educational: Citizenship & social education [YQN], Legal aspects of IT [UBL], Ethical & social aspects of IT [UBJ], IT & Communications law [LNQ], International economic & trade law [LBBM], International law [LB]