Meta-legal is risk analysis, ethics, administrative, liability in internet, philosophy.
The meta issue is important regarding legislation because it has to do with the day to day
environment, it gets back to our lives immediately. However, the most important reason why
meta law is so important regarding to technology is that there is so much room left. Whether
laws are appropriate to regulate our life as law is not always a desirable way to regulate
behaviour with regards to technology. Technology is developing at a high speed in an
enormous specialistic level, this is where most developments take place. Even where
scientists do not have the expertise as the people that work with it themselves, it is a very
specific field. This makes it very hard for legislators to make fitting laws or regulation.
Although there is much room left, there is also a lot of laws applicable to technology already.
Technology involves, amongst others, the following fields of law:
- Fundamental rights (privacy and data protection)
- Criminal law
- Constitutional law
- Civil law
- E-commerce
- Contracts is very important because most of technology is developed in a
commercial context.
- IP-law, larger part of technology has to do with thinking, which IP-law protects.
Software is protected by copyright because it is an intellectual creation. Patents
presuppose that it is something material that you protect.
- Environmental law/climate law (niche)
- Energy law, they raise more and more issues
- Medical law (e-Health)
- Biotechnology law
- Competition law
- Liability competition, liability law concerns a lot of standards.
- Standardization, made by engineers themselves. Many standards have a function to
the technical and competition elements. Security and safety measures are very often
standardized. The engineers form bodies on what the standards look like. Later on, it
is the legislators that say that these are the standards in which we insert law and that
products must comply with the standards. Standards are made by private parties.
- Trade law in general/WTO
Acceptance and legitimacy of regulation and technology. Why is it that people accept new
technologies? This is important for legislators and regulators who want their regulation to be
accepted by the users of the technology but also by the makers of technology, those that
introduce it into society. It is also of importance to engineers and firms that make technology
themselves. Makers of new technologies do not think of societal aspects or about the legal
aspects of technology. Take for example the electronic medical file that had to be designed
all over again.
Safety and security have always been of importance to engineers. Not only these hard
drawbacks, related to health and life, but soft drawbacks have to be taken into account. Soft
drawbacks are possible disadvantages that might be attached to technologies, but they are
The meta issue is important regarding legislation because it has to do with the day to day
environment, it gets back to our lives immediately. However, the most important reason why
meta law is so important regarding to technology is that there is so much room left. Whether
laws are appropriate to regulate our life as law is not always a desirable way to regulate
behaviour with regards to technology. Technology is developing at a high speed in an
enormous specialistic level, this is where most developments take place. Even where
scientists do not have the expertise as the people that work with it themselves, it is a very
specific field. This makes it very hard for legislators to make fitting laws or regulation.
Although there is much room left, there is also a lot of laws applicable to technology already.
Technology involves, amongst others, the following fields of law:
- Fundamental rights (privacy and data protection)
- Criminal law
- Constitutional law
- Civil law
- E-commerce
- Contracts is very important because most of technology is developed in a
commercial context.
- IP-law, larger part of technology has to do with thinking, which IP-law protects.
Software is protected by copyright because it is an intellectual creation. Patents
presuppose that it is something material that you protect.
- Environmental law/climate law (niche)
- Energy law, they raise more and more issues
- Medical law (e-Health)
- Biotechnology law
- Competition law
- Liability competition, liability law concerns a lot of standards.
- Standardization, made by engineers themselves. Many standards have a function to
the technical and competition elements. Security and safety measures are very often
standardized. The engineers form bodies on what the standards look like. Later on, it
is the legislators that say that these are the standards in which we insert law and that
products must comply with the standards. Standards are made by private parties.
- Trade law in general/WTO
Acceptance and legitimacy of regulation and technology. Why is it that people accept new
technologies? This is important for legislators and regulators who want their regulation to be
accepted by the users of the technology but also by the makers of technology, those that
introduce it into society. It is also of importance to engineers and firms that make technology
themselves. Makers of new technologies do not think of societal aspects or about the legal
aspects of technology. Take for example the electronic medical file that had to be designed
all over again.
Safety and security have always been of importance to engineers. Not only these hard
drawbacks, related to health and life, but soft drawbacks have to be taken into account. Soft
drawbacks are possible disadvantages that might be attached to technologies, but they are
