Law 3.0

Book excerpt: Putting technology front and centre in our thinking about law, this book introduces Law 3.0: the future of the legal landscape. Technology not only disrupts the traditional idea of what it is ‘to think like a lawyer,’ as per Law 1.0; it presents major challenges to regulators who are reasoning in a Law 2.0 mode. As this book demonstrates, the latest developments in technology offer regulators the possibility of employing a technical fix rather than just relying on rules – thus, we are introducing Law 3.0. Law 3.0 represents, so to speak, the state we are in and the conversation that we now need to have, and this book identifies some of the key points for discussion in that conversation. Thinking like a lawyer might continue to be associated with Law 1.0, but from 2020 onward, Law 3.0 is the conversation that we all need to join. And, as this book argues, law and the evolution of legal reasoning cannot be adequately understood unless we grasp the significance of technology in shaping both legal doctrine and our regulatory thinking. This is a book for those studying, or about to study, law – as well as others with interests in the legal, political, and social impact of technology.