Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace New edition

by Lawrence Lessig (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0465039135

ISBN-10: 0465039138

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Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace, Version 2.0
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There's a common belief that cyberspace cannot be regulated—that it is, in its very essence, immune from the government's (or anyone else's) control. Code argues that this belief is wrong. It is not in the nature of cyberspace to be unregulable; cyberspace has no “nature.” It only has code—the software and hardware that make cyberspace what it is. That code can create a place of freedom—as the original architecture of the Net did—or a place of exquisitely oppressive control.If we miss this point, then we will miss how cyberspace is changing. Under the influence of commerce, cyberpsace is becoming a highly regulable space, where our behavior is much more tightly controlled than in real space.But that's not inevitable either. We can—we must—choose what kind of cyberspace we want and what freedoms we will guarantee. These choices are all about architecture: about what kind of code will govern cyberspace, and who will control it. In this realm, code is the most significant form of law, and it is up to lawyers, policymakers, and especially citizens to decide what values that code embodies.

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"We, the Net People, in order to form a more perfect Transfer Protocol..." might be recited in future fifth-grade history classes, says attorney Lawrence Lessig. He turns the now-traditional view of the Internet as an uncontrollable, organic entity on its head, and explores the architecture and social systems that are changing every day and taming the frontier. Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace is his well-reasoned, undeniably cogent series of arguments for guiding the still-evolving regulatory processes, to ensure that we don't find ourselves stuck with a system that we find objectionable. As the former Communist-bloc countries found, a constitution is still one of our best guarantees against the dark side of chaos; and Lessig promotes a kind of document that accepts the inevitable regulatory authority of both government and commerce, while constraining them within values that we hold by consensus.

Lessig holds that those who shriek the loudest at the thought of interference in cyberdoings, especially at the hands of the government, are blind to the ever-increasing regulation of the Net (admittedly, without badges or guns) by businesses that find little opposition to their schemes from consumers, competitors, or cops. The Internet will be regulated, he says, and our window of opportunity to influence the design of those regulations narrows each day. How will we make the decisions that the Framers of our paper-and-ink Constitution couldn't foresee, much less resolve? Lessig proclaims that many of us will have to wake up fast and get to work before we lose the chance to draft a networked Bill of Rights. --Rob Lightner

About the Author

Lawrence Lessig is a professor at Stanford Law School and founder of the school's Center for the Internet and Society. After clerking for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and for Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court, he served on the faculties of the University of Chicago, Yale Law School, and Harvard Law School before moving to Stanford. He represented the web site developer Eric Eldred before the Supreme Court in Ashcroft v. Eldred, a landmark case challenging the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. His other books are Free Culture and The Future of Ideas . Lessig also chairs the Creative Commons project and serves on the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In 2002 he was named one of Scientific American 's Top 50 Visionaries. He lives in Palo Alto, California.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; New edition (July 13, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0465039138
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0465039135
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1140L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.06 x 5.36 x 0.84 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #253,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #39 in Computer & Internet Law
- #46 in Science & Technology Law (Books)
- #57 in Federal Jurisdiction Law (Books)

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Lawrence Lessig

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Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School, and director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. Prior to rejoining the Harvard faculty, Lessig was a professor at Stanford Law School, where he founded the school’s Center for Internet and Society, and at the University of Chicago. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court.

Lessig serves on the Board of Creative Commons (emeritus) and the AXA Research Fund. He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Association, and has received numerous awards, including the Free Software Foundation's Freedom Award, a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award, Fastcase 50 Award and being named one of Scientific American's Top 50 Visionaries.

Lessig holds a BA in economics and a BS in management from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in philosophy from Cambridge, and a JD from Yale.

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Bob Magnant

Lessig's Code - Foundations for Tomorrow

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2007

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Although Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace was a laborious read to me several years ago, it still deserves your attention today. It is basically a legal treatise that feels like a college course. It even has small print! Lessig's thoughts go far beyond scholarly; it is a magnificent work. And even though its content is extremely important, you may not be very enthusiastic about picking it up at first. In it he has posed several questions of constitutional law and its relevance in cyberspace, vividly described the dark blending of government regulation and control with our growing world of electronic commerce.

But Lessig's words are much more poetic:

"We build liberty...by setting society upon a certain constitution...an architecture...that structures and constrains social and legal power, to the end of protecting fundamental values - principles and ideals that reach beyond the compromises of ordinary politics.... There is no reason to believe that the grounding for liberty in cyberspace will simply emerge."

He examines how the relationships of the technology, which he also refers to as 'architecture' or 'code', along with social norms, markets and laws regulate people's behavior and explains how each of these limit individuals' actions. These forces work directly or in combinations where improvements in technology can dramatically alter the constraints on people's conduct. The competition for control continues today under the banner of 'network neutrality' where Congress is being asked by business to decide about who will control the Internet. Network neutrality would return to communications law and regulation the concept of non-discrimination that was always, until recently, part of communications law since the original 1934 Communications Act [and was partially repealed for high speed services]. Not only does big business wants to control the Internet, with recent interpretations of net neutrality they are trying to improve their grip on copyright issues and control who is allowed to innovate in this country. In some cases they have already hijacked the legal system and are misusing our enforcement systems to control dissent.

Historically, AT&T was the telecommunications industry of this country and the 'Big Three' networks controlled the airways until new technologies and innovative regulatory policies broke the hold that these corporations had held onto for so long. Markets, services and competition grew exponentially and the new giants have struggled fiercely since to regain that power that the Bell System once held. With SBC's purchase of what used to be AT&T Longlines, the cycle has come full circle. As Lessig pointed out, the obvious point that many might miss is that when government steps aside, it's not as if private entities have no interests or have no agendas that they pursue. We can't leave the market to regulate the Internet of the future. Our constitutional values check and limit what the markets do also. If you think that no government involvement is the more appropriate path to take, consider Lessig's warning:

"Unless we interrogate the architecture of cyberspace as we interrogate the code of Congress, the relevance of our constitutional tradition will fade and the importance of our commitment to our fundamental values ... will also fade."

Lessig's seminal work will continue to provide the foundation for the evolution of cyberspace law for years to come. My original summary of this book can be found on his website.

Bob Magnant is the author of The Last Transition... - the ultimate Internet adventure, a fact-based novel.

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David Thomson

Internet is Simply Another Frontier Requiring Government

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2000

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Many people wrongly perceive the Internet as a frontier unlike no other in human history. The immature comments of John Perry Barlow is indicative of this mindset: "Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of the Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather." Mr. Barlow takes for granted the protections and privileges afforded to us by our police departments, court systems, and military. These governmental entities perhaps do their job too well. This has resulted in allowing those possessing a flower child anarchist mentality to deny that government is mandatory in underpinning a viable social order. Lawrence Lessig recalls the naiveté of those advocating radical capitalist economic measures immediately after the fall of Communism. It was overlooked that without an established rule of law, the evolution of the Russian economy would be impossible.
The Internet is simply another frontier requiring government. It's just that simple. There is no reason to overcomplicate the obvious. Cyberspace is akin to the nascent beginnings of America's past. The early settlers braved their way into the new uncharted territories. They initially formed rudimentary private associations to respond to the challenges confronting their everyday lives. Inevitably, though, lynch mobs left much to be desired. Property disputes had to be resolved, and the weak protected from the more powerful. Nature abhors a vacuum. Somebody is going to be dictating the rules and regulations of the Internet. Lessig contends that our democratically elected governments should be the ultimate authority to decide these awkward and troubling issues. John Perry Barlow, AT&T, AOL, and the myriad other individuals, non profit groups, and businesses must definitely not be excluded from participating in the formulation of these desperately needed new laws, but none should have the final say. Should we be wary of granting power to the government? The answer is an adamant yes. The enactment of carefully crafted checks and balances is still an unavoidable necessity. Winston Churchill rightfully cautioned us that democratic institutions are messy, fragile, and somewhat yucky to behold, but far better than all of the alternative political systems devised in human history. Ultra Libertarians make much of this lack of perfection. Alas, so did Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and other tyrants. Democracy is unpalatable to all extremists embracing the delusion that utopia is attainable in this vale of tears.
Lawrence Lessig has written a brilliant book that should be read by all. It would be a mistake for the reader to seriously wonder if Lessig's book published late in the previous century might be dated. On the contrary, he addresses both the philosophical premises and practical issues that will remain relevant long into the next few decades. I am hoping that some television network might even do a series on "Code." Also, it is best that readers living in the United States not allow their presidential candidates the luxury of ignoring the controversial questions raised by Dr. Lessig.

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Top reviews from other countries

Miss Holly K. Clarke

Decent Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2021

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Useful and informative and not terrible to read. All you want really from an Academic work.

@maxbmtl

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on July 16, 2017

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Still relevant in 2017

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