The Article 2B Debate and the Sociology of the Information Age

The economic institutions and practices that Article 2B seeks to regulate—electronic commerce, knowledge management, and information markets—are changing faster than the tools and concepts that policy makers are using to frame the debate. By describing and analyzing research relating to the nature o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Berkeley technology law journal 1998-10, Vol.13 (3), p.1063-1087
Main Author: Lyman, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Article 2B
Computer software
Economic policy
Economic regulation
Industrial regulation
Information Age
Information economy
Information technology
Knowledge management
Network economies
Policy making
Social policy
Social psychology
Technological innovation
Uniform Commercial Code-US
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Summary:The economic institutions and practices that Article 2B seeks to regulate—electronic commerce, knowledge management, and information markets—are changing faster than the tools and concepts that policy makers are using to frame the debate. By describing and analyzing research relating to the nature of "information" and the components of the "digital economy," this Article suggests a new conceptual ground and common language for regulation of these new social and economic structures. In this way, this Article seeks to encourage a dialogue between the legal community, policy makers, modern industry, and social scientists. Two elements are crucial to the formation of a productive interdisciplinary encounter. First, it is important that the participants in the Article 2B debate recognize that digital information is not simply a new kind of intellectual property that is difficult to regulate because easily copied. Rather, it is also a new kind of economic capital, and an emerging medium for innovative corporate, political, and cultural behavior. Second, the "digital economy" itself is not just a new economic market, just as surely as the Internet is not merely a new distribution channel. Instead, digital technology is transforming the nature and function of the corporation and every sector of the economy. In order to effectively and efficiently regulate the economic structures that digital information technology makes possible, the participants in the Article 2B debate need to recognize that the use of such technology has social as well as economic repercussions.
ISSN:1086-3818
2380-4742