Technology Trends, Societal Impact, and the Law

• Author: George Takach
• Profession: Adjunct Professor
• Pages: 14-72

14

1 There are numerous texts and journals where detailed information can be found

regarding all the different aspects of computer and related technologies. For an

engaging telling of the tale of computers since 1945, see Paul E. Ceruzzi, A Histo-

ry of Modern Computing (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998). A good, comprehen-

sive and yet accessible volume for the non-technical reader is Anthony Ralston &

Edwin D. Reilly, eds., Encyclopedia of Computer Science, 3d ed. (New York: Van

Nostrand Reinhold, 1993) [Encyclopedia of Computer Science]; for a more recent

work in the same vein, see Brian K. Williams, Stacey C. Sawyer & Sarah E.

Hutchinson, Using Information Technology (Boston: Irwin/McGraw Hill, 2003).

For an entry-level work with many helpful pictures consider Sherry Kinkoph,

Jennifer Fulton, & Kelly Oliver, Computers: A Visual Encyclopedia (Indianapolis:

Alpha Books, Macmillan, 1994) [Visual Encyclopedia]. For works that offer suc-

cinct descriptions of technical terms used in computing and networking, the fol-

lowing are recommended: George McDaniel, ed., IBM Dictionary of Computing

(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994); and Bryan Pfaffenberger, Internet in Plain Eng-

lish (New York: MIS Press, 1994) [Plain English]. Of course, the rapid pace of

technological change dates books on computers and related technologies quickly,

and so journals can be an invaluable source of information. Scientific American

and Communications of the ACM have particularly strong and timely articles on

various technical subjects related to computers and communications.

An understanding of the key principles of computer law, let alone its

more subtle nuances, requires some appreciation of the technology that

underpins the computer revolution and that has brought us into the

Information Age. Accordingly, there follows a brief exposition of some of

the principal technical aspects of computers, software, data, and the net-

works (including the Internet) that are increasingly linking computers.1

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS,

SOCIETAL IMPACT, AND

THE LAw

chapter 1

More importantly, several key technological trends and applications are

also highlighted, namely digitization, manipulation, mass storage,

communications, miniaturization, and expert systems. In this discus-

sion the emphasis is not on technical questions. Rather, the focus is on

the legal aspects of the technology. This chapter also discusses the

impact the technology and the technological trends (specifically the

elimination of distance, mass customization, our dependence on com-

puters, and our development into an information-based society) are

having on society. The law, with certain limited exceptions, is a reflec-

tion and outgrowth of the society in which it is rooted. To understand

the main elements of computer law, therefore, it becomes important to

grasp how these computer-based technologies and trends are shaping

the world. The emphasis here will not be on the sociological, psycho-

logical, or political aspects of these transformations (though these are

many and far-reaching), but on their legal significance.2This chapter

will also begin to illuminate the contours of the four dynamics of com-

puter law, namely, the rapid pace of technological change, the elusive

nature of information, the blurring of public and private, and the blur-

ring of national and international.3

Although an overview of computer technology and its trends and

applications is useful — and so this chapter is particularly germane for

those who are not technically proficient — the reader is cautioned that

what follows is very general.4In fact, the technologies involved in com-

Technology Trends, Societal Impact, and the Law 15

2 This is not to say the sociological, psychological, or political dimensions of the

computer revolution are not important or fascinating, as they are certainly both.

For example, for a penetrating study from a sociologist’s perspective of comput-

ers and the Internet and their roles in redefining human identity and community

through a culture of simulation and computer-based interaction, see Sherry

Turkle, Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet (New York: Simon &

Schuster, 1995). For a description of the types of people transformed by the

Internet — particularly youth — see Michael Lewis, Next: The Future Just Hap-

pened (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002). As for the growing impor-

tance of the Internet to the world of politics, see “The Battle for the White

House: America’s Presidential Election Campaign is in Full Swing Not Least on

the Internet,” The Economist, 18 September 1999; “Political Campaigns Online:

Beyond the Law’s Reach,” The Economist, 11 December 1999; and “Cyber Soap-

boxes,” The Economist, 24 June 2000.

3 These dynamics are important, and are a unifying theme throughout this book.

For a discussion of these dynamics, see chapter 8, section A, “Computer Law:

Dynamics.”

4 It should also be noted that the following discussion does not address in any

technical detail various communications technologies that are also germane to

parts of this book (especially chapter 6 on electronic commerce), such as tele-

graph, telex, teletype, EDI, and fax.

puters and networks can be exceedingly complex. Moreover, the rapid

pace of change in the computer and related industries quickly outdates

even a sophisticated, detailed explanation of the technologies current-

ly underpinning the Information Age. These two factors — startling

complexity and a breathtaking pace of change — have important ram-

ifications for the legal process. They mean, for example, that lawyers

must spend a significant amount of time and energy educating them-

selves, as well as judges and legislators, in technical matters and the

new business processes engendered by groundbreaking technologies

when they are involved in cases and law reform initiatives relating to

computing and network technologies.5It also means the law is pre-

sented with a supremely difficult task when attempting to remain rele-

vant and meaningful in the complicated and ever-changing world of

computers and networks.

A. THE CORE TECHNOLOGIES

Computers can be described in a variety of ways. One approach is to

break down the computer into several distinct components, namely the

core technologies of hardware, software, and chips (semiconductor

integrated circuits). It is also useful, however, to understand a com-

puter purposefully, as in the following definition: “A digital computer

is a machine that will accept data and information presented to it in its

required form, carry out arithmetic and logical operations on this raw

material, and then supply the required results in an acceptable form.”6

In short, computers process data and are used to communicate data as

well. And most importantly for the purposes of the analysis in this

book, computers are continually improving their ability to perform

these functions, in terms of speed and ease of use, all the while drop-

ping in price.7The performance–price ratio of computers is improving

at a dizzying rate. The price of computer-processing power has

declined by about 30 percent a year over the last twenty years; it is esti-

mated that the cost of information processing is only 1/100 of 1 per-

16 computer law

5 For a discussion of the challenges posed to judicial decision making by sophisti-

cated subject matter, including some startling admissions by certain judges, see

chapter 2, section C.1, “Legal Dispute Resolution.”

6 Ralston & Reilly, Encyclopedia of Computer Science, above note 1.

7 For a concise but extremely readable account of the history of the development of

computers, see Maurice Estabrooks, Electronic Technology, Corporate Strategy, and

World Transformation (Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 1995) [Electronic Technology].