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Brownsword, Roger --- "Transformative technologies and responsive legal scholarship" [2019] ELECD 259; in Mendis, Dinusha; Lemley, Mark; Rimmer, Matthew (eds), "3D Printing and Beyond" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 137

Book Title: 3D Printing and Beyond

Editor(s): Mendis, Dinusha; Lemley, Mark; Rimmer, Matthew

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781786434043

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Transformative technologies and responsive legal scholarship

Author(s): Brownsword, Roger

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

This chapter highlights three complex problems with which responsive legal scholarship must engage. First, modern communities typically expect regulators to find a sweet spot, neither over-regulating (and stifling innovation) nor under-regulating (such that technologies are applied in ways that present unacceptable risks or compromise fundamental values). Secondly, where communities are divided in their judgments as to what is prudent and what is ethically right, this pluralism further complicates the task of finding an acceptable balance of interests and meeting expectations. Thirdly, with the option of a more technocratic approach to regulation, relying on technological management rather than rules or standards, there are now questions not only about the acceptability of the particular tools used, but also about the application of the rule of law and the future of rules. The chapter concludes by listing a number of action points for responsive legal scholarship.