Anomalies in Internet Law

Proceedings of the 22nd Bileta conference, University of Hertfortshire: Hatfield

10 Pages Posted: 2 Jun 2008 Last revised: 27 Feb 2014

See all articles by Pieter Kleve

Pieter Kleve

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Richard V. De Mulder

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Centre for Computers and Law

Date Written: April 7, 2011

Abstract

Modern information technology has brought a flood of new possibilities. It has become a lot cheaper and easier to communicate with other people anywhere in the world and to send each other music files, video clips, texts and pictures. Rather than just enjoying these new possibilities, many governments, companies and even individuals try to stop others from using these new technologies to their full potential. Of course these "frustrating agents" have good reasons for their efforts: their interests are harmed or potentially harmed. The music industry, as well as other "content" providers, has been very active in trying to stop new technologies being applied. Furthermore, governments have constantly tried to forbid or restrict the use of new technologies, often referring to interests such as crime control, security and privacy.

Not only are these efforts often contradictory - the music industry would have an interest in cheap means of transportation for their products and governments undermine the privacy of their citizens in order to protect their right to security- but there are additional problems. National governments (as well as the EU) have introduced a confusing system of new rules in order to protect intellectual property rights. They have accepted that the content providers could introduce new technologies that harmed the property rights of consumers: so called Digital Rights Management systems. When it became apparent, however, that these technologies were not effective, more new rules were introduced, not to solve the problem of the legal protection of property rights, but to make it illegal to try to circumvent digital rights management techniques. In this paper, an attempt is made to identify the anomalies referred to here, to explain them and to suggest some new ways for governments, firms and individuals to deal with new technologies.

Keywords: Information Society, Internet Law, Directives, Legal Concepts

Suggested Citation

Kleve, Pieter and De Mulder, Richard, Anomalies in Internet Law (April 7, 2011). Proceedings of the 22nd Bileta conference, University of Hertfortshire: Hatfield, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1138822

Pieter Kleve (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Richard De Mulder

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Centre for Computers and Law ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands
31-10-4082194 (Phone)
31-10-4089191 (Fax)

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