Rights, Regulation, and the Technological Revolution confronts a central question facing modern government - how can regulators respond to both the challenges and opportunities presented by a technologically driven society without sacrificing legitimacy for effectiveness, or weakening the essential conditions of a stable, aspirant moral community? Analysing developments across biotechnology, information and communications technology, nanotechnology and neurotechnology, the book explores the difficulties facing the public control of rapid technological change, focusing on the problems of regulatory effectiveness, connection, legitimacy, and compliance. The book argues that as regulators struggle to find adequate frameworks to limit, license and support new technologies, they will increasingly rely on a technological approach to complement, enhance, and even replace traditional legal strategies. The book breaks new ground by offering the first overarching commentary on the relationship between regulators, industry, and wider society as the new technologies of the twenty-first century achieve an ever-greater penetration in our daily lives.

Table of Contents

1. The Technologies of the Twenty-First Century: Regulatory Challenge and Regulatory Opportunity; PART ONE: REGULATORY CHALLENGE; 2. The Challenge of Regulatory Legitimacy I; 3. The Challenge of Regulatory Legitimacy II; 4. The Challenge of Regulatory Legitimacy III; 5. The Challenge of Regulatory Effectiveness; 6. The Challenge of Regulatory Connection; 7. The Challenge of Regulatory Cosmopolitanism; PART TWO: REGULATORY OPPORTUNITY; 8. Genetic Databases and the First Signs of Regulatory Opportunity; 9. Seizing the Regulatory Opportunity: Code and Control; 10. Code and the Corrosion of Moral Community; 11. Regulating Technologies: Challenge and Opportunity

Reviews

This volume makes a valuable and original contribution to our understanding of the complex interaction between lawmakers, ethical values, and broader societal interests in the regulation of the emerging technologies. Roberto Andorno, Medicine, Healthcare and Philosophy This is a book of impressive scope and detail and it should have a wide audience. It will encourage the reader to think deeply about the challenges we face as we engage with technology and about our commitment to core moral principles. This book is a 'must-have' for all those interested in bioethics, health law, and theories of regulation. Belinda Bennett, Journal of Law and Society, Vol 35/4