Amazon.co.uk Review
Frontiers can't last forever. That's the message underlying
Beyond Our Control? Confronting the Limits of Our Legal System in the Age of Cyberspace by legal scholar Stuart Biegel. The pioneers of the Internet have long proclaimed that their domain couldn't and shouldn't be regulated, but increasing commercial and legal pressures are tipping the balance in favour of control. Biegel is neither surprised nor outraged at this development and urges his readers to accept the inevitable and advocate for sensible legislation.
His comparisons of Internet activity to traditional means of communication and commerce are intriguing and suggest analogies with existing regulations. Despite his scepticism, Biegel does find some grey areas that will, he believes, require new thinking rather than simply repurposing old laws for new ends. He draws on the ever-evolving MP3 and P2P controversies to keep his writing concrete and material that could be rather dry flourishes when applied to the daily news. --Rob Lightner
Synopsis
This work provides a framework for thinking about the law and cyberspace, examining the extent to which the Internet is currently under control and the extent to which it can or should be controlled. It focuses in part on the example of MP3 file-sharing, a file format that enables users to store large audio files with near-CD sound quality on a computer. By 1998, software available for free on the Web enabled users to copy existing digital files from CDs. Later technologies such as Napster and Gnutella allowed users to exchange MP3 files in cyberspace without having to post anything online. This ability of online users to download free music caused an uproar among music executives and many musicians, as well as a range of much-discussed legal action. Regulation strategies identified and discussed include legislation, policy changes, administrative agency activity, international cooperation, architectural changes, private ordering, and self-regulation. The book also applies major regulatory models to some of the most volatile Internet issues, including cyber-security, consumer fraud, free speech rights, intellectual property rights, and file-sharing programs.
