Law in an Era of Smart Technology

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Oxford University Press, Dec 31, 2007 - Law - 200 pages
Should law be technologically neutral, or should it evolve as human relationships with technology become more advanced? In Law in an Era of "Smart" Technology, Susan Brenner analyzes the complex and evolving interactions between law and technology and provides a thorough and detailed account of the law in technology at the beginning of the 21st century. Brenner draws upon recent technological advances, evaluating how developing technologies may alter how humans interact with each other and with their environment. She analyzes the development of technology as shifting from one of "use" to one of "interaction," and argues that this interchange needs us to reconceptualize our approach to legal rules, which were originally designed to prevent the "misuse" of older technologies. As technologies continue to develop over the next several decades, Brenner argues that the laws directed between human and technological relationships should remain neutral. She explains how older technologies rely on human implementation, but new "smart" technology will be completely automated. This will eventually lead to, as she explains, the ultimate progression in our relationship with technology: the fusion of human physiology and technology. Law in an Era of "Smart" Technology provides a detailed, historically-grounded explanation as to why our traditional relationship with technology is evolving and why a corresponding shift in the law is imminent and necessary.
 

Contents

INTRODUCTION
1
LAW AND TECHNOLOGY AN OVERVIEW
7
LAW AND TOOL TECHNOLOGY
15
LAW AND MACHINE TECHNOLOGY
25
LAW AND CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY
75
SMART TECHNOLOGY
123
LAW AND SMART TECHNOLOGIES
137
IMPLICATIONS
185
INDEX
189
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About the author (2007)

Susan W. Brenner is NCR Distinguished Professor of Law and Technology at the University of Dayton School of Law

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