Code and other laws of cyberspace

Description:

Although the book is named Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, Lessig uses this theme sparingly. It is a fairly simple concept: since cyberspace is entirely human-made, there are no natural laws to determine its architecture. While we tend to assume that what is in cyberspace is a given, in fact everything there is a construction based on decisions made by people. What we can and can't do there is governed by the underlying code of all of the programs that make up the Internet, which both permit and restrict. So while the libertarians among us rail against the idea of government, our freedoms in cyberspace are being determined by an invisible structure that is every bit as restricting as any laws that can come out of a legislature, legitimate or not. Even more important, this invisible code has been written by people we did not elect and who have no formal obligations to us, such as the members of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) or the more recently-developed Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It follows that what we will be able to do in the future will be determined by code that will be written tomorrow, and we should be thinking about who will determine what this code will be. [from http://kcoyle.net/lessig.html]

subjects: Law and legislation,  Cyberspace,  Social aspects,  Social aspects of Cyberspace,  Information superhighway,  Computer networks,  Right of Privacy,  Electronic commerce,  Internet,  Freedom of information,  Social aspects of Information superhighway,  Computers,  Computers and civilization,  Intangible property,  Commerce électronique,  Liberté d'information,  Aspect social,  Autoroutes électroniques,  Ordinateurs et civilisation,  Cyberespace,  Juridische aspecten,  Regulering,  Droit à la vie privée,  Open access-publicering,  Elektroniska motorvägar,  Regulierung,  Droit,  Ordinateurs,  Informationsfreiheit,  Fiction, science fiction, general,  Wit and humor,  Children's fiction,  Adventure and adventurers, fiction,  Fathers and daughters, fiction,  Single-parent families, fiction,  Islands, fiction,  Science fiction,  South carolina, fiction,  Self-actualization (psychology),  Fiction, mystery & detective, general,  Crime, fiction,  Conduct of life,  Fiction, humorous,  Fiction, suspense,  Bullying, fiction,  Courage, fiction,  Friendship, fiction,  Poetry (poetic works by one author),  Science,  New York Times reviewed,  Fiction, historical, general,  Fiction, war & military,  Fiction, romance, historical, general,  Gay men, fiction,  Fiction, thrillers, general,  Fiction, horror,  Fiction, visionary & metaphysical,  Fiction, psychological,  World history,  Curiosities and wonders,  Fiction, thrillers, suspense,  Self-help techniques,  Electronic books,  Free software,  Intellectual property,  Open source,  Privacy

Places: United States

Times: 1990-1998