IT Law
Challenges of technological advances

Sheffield University Dr Maggie Wykes, whose research interests include internet crime, said the biggest challenge technology has brought to law is it has made human interaction much more global, both cyber and real.

“But law remains static within nation states. The problem is finding ways of transcending those boundaries or operating effectively within them by adopting to more fluid, multicultural and unknowable activities,” she said.

IT lawyer Keiron Murray said: “Law has to react to technology, necessity being the mother of invention. CAN-SPAM Act came into force in the US to counter spam. It did not create it.”

But does that mean somebody could be victimised before the legislature awakens to the side effects of technology?

The problem is how quickly the law adapts to the changes of technology, according to director of Graduate Institute of Science and Technology Law, National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology (GISTL, NKFUST, Taiwan) Jason Tien Chou.

“It’s almost impossible to predict what course technology is going to take. Law is not a natural science. It is a social science that has to be tested by experience. What we can predict is the possible problem that is going to occur after drawing on the experience of other technologically advanced countries,” he said.

Legalising spam?

Would the spamming industry be better regulated if the government can tax it as with the example of gambling? Mr Murray said: “Tax does not equal regulation. Regulation is regulation. Tax secures funds for a government. I personally think spamming should be kept illegal. Regulation in any one jurisdiction would in my view have a limited effect. Email is low-cost, portable and those who wanted to spam me could do so from an unregulated jurisdiction of their choosing. The reality is not all jurisdictions will regulate it or regulate on an equal basis if they go down that route.

“Further the nature of the vast bulk of unsolicited spam is grey market ‘health’ products, counterfeit watches and porn, all of which would create a push for non-regulation or an active choice to opt out of regulation,” he added.

“The only advantage would be the potential for people to refuse to take any unsolicited messages at all because for it to be legal, it has to accept that its services can be rejected,” said Dr Wykes.