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The final report of our encryption study entitled “A matter of security, privacy and trust: A study of the principles and values of encryption in New Zealand” has been published. The study was funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation and the University of Waikato.
Below is an abstract of the report:
“Cybersecurity is crucial for ensuring the safety and well-being of the general public, businesses, government, and the country as a whole. New Zealand has a reasonably comprehensive and well-grounded legal regime and strategy for dealing with cybersecurity matters. However, there is one area that deserves further attention and discussion – encryption. Encryption is at the heart of and underpins many of the technologies and technical processes used for computer and network security, but current laws and policies do not expressly cover this significant technology. The principal objective of this study is to identify the principles and values of encryption in New Zealand with a view to informing future developments of encryption- related laws and policies. The overarching question is: What are the fundamental principles and values that apply to encryption? In order to answer this question, the study adopts an interdisciplinary approach that examines the technical, legal and social dimensions of encryption. With regard to the technical dimensions, this requires exploring the technical elements and aspects of encryption and how they can impact law and society. In relation to law, existing and proposed encryption law and policies in New Zealand and other jurisdictions are examined in terms of how they affect and are affected by encryption. On the social dimension, the perceptions, opinions and beliefs of three groups of stakeholders most concerned about encryption (i.e., the general public, businesses and government) are recognised and considered.”
My book on hacking and law entitled A Socio-Legal Study of Hacking: Breaking and Remaking Law and Technology has been released in paperback. The book is published by Routledge and is based on my PhD thesis.
Below is an abstract:
“The relationship between hacking and the law has always been complex and conflict-ridden. This book examines the relations and interactions between hacking and the law with a view to understanding how hackers influence and are influenced by technology laws and policies. In our increasingly digital and connected world where hackers play a significant role in determining the structures, configurations and operations of the networked information society, this book delivers an interdisciplinary study of the practices, norms and values of hackers and how they conflict and correspond with the aims and aspirations of hacking-related laws. Describing and analyzing the legal and normative impact of hacking, as well as proposing new approaches to its regulation and governance, this book makes an essential contribution to understanding the socio-technical changes, and consequent legal challenges, faced by our contemporary connected society.”
My article on applying the concept of legal pluralism in relation to ICT law was published in the Journal of Internet Law.
Below is an abstract:
“This article analyses information and communications technology (ICT) law from the perspective of legal pluralism. It argues that studying legal pluralism within the ICT field advances both the understanding of legal pluralism and the development of ICT law. The author believes that the real challenge for ICT legal scholars and practitioners is to break free from a deeply ingrained legal centralist mindset and genuinely strive to see the dynamic networks of interactions among plural legal orders, actors and networks. This requires imagining law in relation to the ICT field not as a decentralised network but as a distributed network where power is dispersed and similarly shared by diverse and active participants across the inter-network.”
My chapter entitled “From regulating technologies to governing society: Towards a plural, social and interactive conception of law” has been published in Moving Forward: Tradition and Transformation. The book is available on the Cambridge Scholars Publishing website and Amazon.
Below is the abstract:
“The challenges of controlling the internet and regulating the information society have been seen through different and opposing schools of thought. At first, people with a libertarian bent believed that the internet could not be regulated. This utopian view was later countered by those who held that not only could the internet be regulated but it could be regulated almost perfectly. The problem with the first view is that it falls into the trap of technological determinism (or the belief that the internet is autonomous and it cannot and should not be regulated), while the second one falls into the trap of instrumentalism (the assumption that technology is completely subject to human agency and control). This paper argues that a way out of the twin regulatory dilemmas of technological determinism and instrumentalism requires a paradigm shift in how regulation of technology is understood within computer-mediated societies. The issue of technological regulation is less about the control of technology per se and is more concerned with the governance of and participation in the information society itself. What is therefore suggested is an interdisciplinary socio-techno-legal approach to problems brought about by new technologies that takes account of the condition of interlegality that exists within and across transnational social networks.”
My article on the relationship between technology and intellectual property has been published in SCRIPTed – A Journal of Law, Technology & Society. The full article is available on the journal’s website.
Below is an abstract:
‘Does technology trump intellectual property rights (IPR)? In the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v Grokster case, Justice Breyer believes this to be so. This article will analyse whether Justice Breyer’s belief has valid legal and empirical bases in light of the different cases and legislations that seek to resolve the challenges brought about by new technologies vis-à-vis IPRs. This article argues that the proposition that law favours technology over IPRs requires further qualification in order to prevent one from falling into the traps of technological determinism, instrumentalism and the belief in the neutrality of technology. A re-framing of the debate is needed which goes beyond the traditional technology versus IP dichotomy and focuses on the main goal of technological development and IP protection, which is to advance innovation in its broadest sense.’
Law, technology and society 