Bj Ard (U Wisconsin Law) and Rebecca Crootof (U Richmond Law) have posted “Technology Law Chapter 6: Upset Equilibria” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Based on years of experience teaching the subject, we have produced a first draft of a “Technology Law” coursebook. It teases out fundamental concepts, introduces our methodology for resolving tech-fostered legal uncertainties, and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of different regulatory choices. Through a mixture of readings, exercises, and discussion questions, it helps readers develop facility in:
– Recognizing the recurring techlaw and policy questions and discerning the application, normative, and institutional uncertainties associated with a particular technology;
– Working through the process of resolving legal uncertainties, which includes consciously selecting a regulatory approach, identifying legally salient characteristics and relevant analogies, and weighing the benefits and drawbacks of various regulatory choices (law-by-analogy, creating new law, or reconfiguring legal institutions); and
– Developing familiarity with employing and countering common rhetorical strategies for advancing, opposing, or shaping regulation.
This course is designed to be accessible and useful to all students, regardless of career interests or prior experience with technology. New technologies challenge every area of the law, and the regulatory and rhetorical strategies we’ll explore are transferable across subjects.
This posting includes Chapter Six: Upset Equilibria. Future chapters will be posted bi-monthly.
We welcome feedback at the link included in the document; additional chapters will be updated regularly. If you are interested in teaching from this text, in whole or in part, please let us know, as we would be happy to share our class notes and slides.