Information, Freedom and Property : The Philosophy of Law Meets the Philosophy of Technology

Bringing together philosophers of law and philosophers of technology, this book addresses the issues that arise in the tension between freedom of and property in information. Addresses business models, government strategies and legal frameworks concerning the collection, organisation and control of data, the book asks whether it is in the very nature of information to be free. Analysing the various political and ethical implications raised by this question – including, for example, open access, the hacker ethos, the market in information, and so on – this book will be of considerable interest to those working on the contemporary dimensions of freedom of information, data protection, and intellectual property rights.

This book addresses issues on the nexus of freedom of and property in information, while acknowledging that both hiding and exposing information may affect our privacy. It inquires into the physics, the technologies, the business models, the governmental strategies and last but not least the legal frameworks concerning access, organisation and control of information. It debates whether it is in the very nature of information to be either free or monopolized, or both. Analysing upcoming power structures, new types of colonization and attempts to replace legal norms with techno-nudging, this book also presents the idea of an infra-ethics capable of pre-empting our pre-emption. It discusses the interrelations between open access, the hacker ethos, the personal data economy, and freedom of information, highlighting the ephemeral but pivotal role played by information in a data-driven society. This book is a must-read for those working on the contemporary dimensions of freedom of information, data protection, and intellectual property rights.