Collisions in the Digital Paradigm: Law and Rule Making in the Internet Age

Description

It has been said that the only asset that a lawyer has is time. But the reality is that a lawyer's greatest asset is information. The practice and the business of law is all about information exchange. The flow of information travels in a number of different directions during the life of a case. A client communicates certain facts to a lawyer. The lawyer assimilates those facts and seeks out specialised legal information which may be applicable to those facts. In the course of a generation there has been a technological revolution which represents a paradigm shift in the flow of information and communication. Collisions in the Digital Paradigm is about how the law deals with digital information technologies and some of the problems that arise when the law has to deal with issues arising in a new paradigm.

David J Harvey, formerly a District Court Judge sitting in Auckland, New Zealand, is Director of the New Zealand Center for ICT Law a part-time lecturer in Law and Information Technology, both at the Faculty of Law, University of Auckland.

This is a good, thoughtful book, packed with balanced insights. -- Laurence Eastham, Computers & Law's editor * Computers & Law * This book is a scholarly, fascinating, and at times uncomfortable, look at the present and the future. Based on meticulous research and in-depth knowledge, it forces you to reconsider many of your current assumptions as to what the law should do when faced with this shifting paradigm. For most lawyers, this will be a "must have" book on their shelves, as it is increasingly difficult to think of an area that is not affected by the digital world. Even if technology is not your passion, Harvey's insights are well worth the read. -- Jacqui Thompson * New Zealand Bar Association * Harvey's book is an authoritative text for the times. It diagnoses the challenge facing the law as we (ever so slowly) shift paradigms from print to digital, and articulates the change in thinking required to deal with the inevitable collisions accompanying the transition. -- Kate Galloway, Bond University * Alternative Law Journal * ...the taxonomy provides a lucid and analytically helpful addition to the literature that will aid the reader in comprehending the implications of the digital paradigm...Harvey's appreciation for the balance between breadth and depth marks out Collisions as an excellent resource for students and practitioners seeking to gain an understanding of the main points of contention around technology, both as a discrete field of law and as a disruptor of litigation practice. -- Laurence Diver, School of Law, University of Edinburgh * SCRIPTed *