Law and the Technologies of the Twenty-First Century
Text and Materials

A clear and comprehensive introduction for students studying key regulatory challenges posed by technologies in the twenty-first century.

Roger Brownsword (Author), Morag Goodwin (Author)

9780521186247, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 14 June 2012

492 pages, 5 b/w illus.
24.6 x 17.3 x 2.3 cm, 0.97 kg

'Brownsword and Goodwin's book is an introduction; I would happily recommend it to lawyer and non-lawyer colleagues looking for a good place to start in this emerging field. I would happily use it in the classroom too. It could be at the core of a specialist module. Equally, its clear, carefully signposted structure means it could be dipped into - as part, say, of a human rights course or the ubiquitous 'Introduction to Law' courses for which it can be so hard to find material that engages with 'big questions' about law but is also both stimulating and accessible.' Therese Murphy, European Journal of Risk Regulation

Law and the Technologies of the Twenty-First Century provides a contextual account of the way in which law functions in a broader regulatory environment across different jurisdictions. It identifies and clearly structures the four key challenges that technology poses to regulatory efforts, distinguishing between technology as a regulatory target and tool, and guiding the reader through an emerging field that is subject to rapid change. By extensive use of examples and extracts from the texts and materials that form and shape the scholarly and public debates over technology regulation, it presents complex material in a stimulating and engaging manner. Co-authored by a leading scholar in the field with a scholar new to the area, it combines comprehensive knowledge of the field with a fresh approach. This is essential reading for students of law and technology, risk regulation, policy studies, and science and technology studies.

Part I. General Introduction: 1. Law and the technologies of the twenty-first century
2. The regulatory environment: UK Biobank, eBay, and Wikipedia
3. Four key regulatory challenges
4. Technology as a regulatory tool: DNA profiling and Marper
Part II. Regulatory Prudence and Precaution: 5. Regulatory prudence I: health, safety and environment, GM crops, nanoparticles, and sound science
6. Regulatory prudence II: precaution
Part III. Regulatory Legitimacy: 7. The legitimacy of the regulatory environment – the basic ideas
8. Key boundary-marking concepts
9. Human rights as boundary-markers
10. Understanding procedural legitimacy – the role of public participation in technology regulation
Part IV. Regulatory Effectiveness: 11. Regulatory effectiveness I
12. Regulatory effectiveness II: failure by regulators
13. Regulatory effectiveness III: resistance by regulatees
14. Regulatory effectiveness IV: third-party interference and disruptive externalities
Part V. Regulatory Connection: 15. Regulatory connection I: getting connected
16. Regulatory connection II: disconnection and sustainability
Part VI. Concluding Overview: 17. From law to code: the surveillance society and Marper revisited.

Subject Areas: Technology: general issues [TB], E-commerce law [LNCB2], Law [L]