Abstract

In our information societies, we act, interact, and transact in environments that are located at various points on a spectrum running from offline (analogue) to online (digital). Typically, the more that we move away from offline environments, the more that technologies bear the regulatory load; and, concomitantly, the greater the range and intensity of questions about the authority of law and why we should respect it. Given this setting, the purpose of this Working Paper is to open up a research agenda relating to three technologically-induced waves of ‘disruption’ to traditional ideas about both the authority of law (the authority of the rules and institutions of Westphalian legal systems) and respect for the law.

The Working Paper is a contribution to the research undertaken by the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on ‘European Intellectual Property and Information Rights’ at Bournemouth University (the Centre being funded under the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme).

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