Constitution 3.0: Freedom and Technological Change

by Jeffrey Rosen (Editor), Benjamin Wittes (Editor)

" At the beginning of the twenty-first century, breathtaking changes in technology are posing stark challenges to our constitutional values. From free speech to privacy, from liberty and personal autonomy to the right against self-incrimination, basic constitutional principles are under stress from technological advances unimaginable even a few decades ago, let alone during the founding era. In this provocative collection, America's leading scholars of technology, law, and ethics imagine how to translate and preserve constitutional and legal values at a time of dizzying technological change. Constitution 3.0 explores some of the most urgent constitutional questions of the near future. Will privacy become obsolete, for example, in a world where ubiquitous surveillance is becoming the norm? Imagine that Facebook and Google post live feeds from public and private surveillance cameras, allowing 24/7 tracking of any citizen in the world. How can we protect free speech now that Facebook and Google have more power than any king, president, or Supreme Court justice to decide who can speak and who can be heard? How will advanced brain-scan technology affect the constitutional right against self-incrimination? And on a more elemental level, should people have the right to manipulate their genes and design their own babies? Should we be allowed to patent new forms of life that seem virtually human? The constitutional challenges posed by technological progress are wide-ranging, with potential impacts on nearly every aspect of life in America and around the world. The authors include Jamie Boyle, Duke Law School; Eric Cohen and Robert George, Princeton University; Jack Goldsmith, Harvard Law School; Orin Kerr, George Washington University Law School; Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law School; Stephen Morse, University of Pennsylvania Law School; John Robertson, University of Texas Law School; Christopher Slobogin, Vanderbilt Law School; O. Carter Snead, Notre"

Genres: Law, Nonfiction, Technology, Politics

271 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 2011

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down. It is fascinating, scary, inspiring, and dense. I'll be a much better Citizen having read it. NOTE: Spoiler Alert labeled below.

It is definitely a challenging read. These essays are written by Super Smart think-tank folks; so be aware, some are better than others at writing for a lay audience. Within 5 pages, I got out both my dictionary and the Constitution. In general, all are well-worth the effort.

I thought I was picking up a book that'd INFORM me about privacy, threats to civil liberties, and the role of new technologies in our national future. And, it is that. It also is a fascinating look into the Law (never thought I'd use the word 'fascinating' and 'Law' in the same sentence). If you're prepared to concentrate, I'm guessing it'll appeal to many folks: Privacy Advocates, Folks reliant on Public Data, Law Junkies, Geeks, Intellectuals, anyone interested in the future of Autonomy and Liberty in the USA, and folks who just wish to be informed citizens.

Technologies are sexy, exciting, and appear so helpful. At the same time, their premature use before society debates the impact of accepting their accompanying assumptions could be devastating.


SPOILER ALERT

Example: The use of Cognitive Neuroscience as current and future tool by Consequenstialists to restructure our justice system is an example of this potential devastation. In this case, what appears coolly scientific and definitive, is instead, much more cruel than the Retributivist ('just deserts') current approach. In trying to develop a kinder method of justice via rehabilitation, Consequenstialists created a method for cleansing society preemptively of “future dangerousness”, without mitigating situational factors being considered. In the context of Cognitive Neuroscience, mitigating factors, free will, etc. are illogical because our brain is what it is and it alone explains what we did (as I interpreted these essays). The metaphysical Free Will and Mind therefore are non-existent – only our biological control-center, the brain, exists. Our courts are already using brain scans in court. What started as scientific evidence in a trial will easily (considering our current political preference for Protection From Everything) become a Sanitation Of Society of those who have the *potential* to (and **may** possibly) do us harm. In the end, our current jury system, since it considers both the crime and mitigating circumstances, is more humane – and, in my opinion, less likely to devolve us to a monoculture.

This is a single example. The first two sections about the 4th Amendment, Internet use restrictions, surveillance, regulating power in both the government and private sectors, and net neutrality utterly captivated me. I'm currently contemplating our cyber-infrastructure, the (reportedly great) threat of serious national cyberattack, and the level of freedom I'm willing to give up to maintain such infrastructure – and whether I'd rather give up my freedoms to a mega-corporation or the government. Someone's gotta maintain and protect the roads of the Internet, they say.

Citizens must contemplate the various perspectives and potentials of new technologies, wending through the discomfort of both sides having good intentions, to voice guidance for our public officials – and implications of our personal use and support of some technologies and companies (such as Facebook, Google, Apple, etc.) This book and its plenitude of footnotes will provide years worth of exploration and contemplation.

I am seriously impressed by – and grateful for discovering – this set of essays.
Remaining are 100 pages of 'constitutional personhood' and genetics to consume. (Watch for amendments to this review. :)
BTW, it is available at many local PUBLIC LIBRARIES and online at the Brookings Institute website. For FREE.

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -Benjamin Franklin So right, Ben. So very very right.

[Brittany McCann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Constitution 3.0 was assigned to me for my Legal Issues in Technology class.

It worked very well with the class structure, and I could utilize it for many discussion posts and assignments. The book's layout is clean and organized.

It did a great job of breaking down the topics so the reader could easily refer to them.

My only complaint is that page numbers are missing in the Kindle version.

I highly recommend this book as a quick reference for learning the basics of IP, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Patents.

4.5 stars rounded up

[Poptart19 (the name’s ren) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Excellent & timely read on consumer privacy, government surveillance, anti-trust legal history, & civil rights.

[Mareto]

a

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains essays that explore current and near future legal issues caused by internet technology, increasing presence of security cameras and social media. The focus is upon issues of privacy.

At a minimum the book provides the reader with plenty to think about the digital footprint each of us generates when conducting transactions on the internet, especially when using social network media. The essays in this book describe the way information about the user does not go away. The book poses technical possibilities by which information could be made to be temporary unless designated as 'to be made permanent' that could be a partial fix to the many ways that past postings can haunt the users of social media. But, in the end there is no telling how the user's information will ultimately be used once it is released into the digital environment and ultimately as the companies where items are posted are absorbed by other corporations

The book also projects problems in the future such as the possibility of network service providers teaming up in intrusive ways.

Recently a story on NPR described the use of data mining by marketing firms. The person interviewed was forthright about the fact that companies know quite a bit about the user even if that person has just visited a company website.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

After hearing the interview on NPR, I had to get this book. Very interesting subject: technology vs. privacy and how corporations may have more say over future privacy concerns because our constitution does not have the answers for some technological advancement. The book covers the subjects of surveillance, cyber threat, social media and privacy, censoring, neuroscience, genetic engineering and bioterrorism. It also has a lot of information on what the first and fourth amendments do and do not cover with regards to these emerging technologies. Good fictional as well as factual examples of the technology and privacy. Interesting to learn that the first and forth amendments applies only to government intrusion, not from private companies.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative book featuring hypothetical science-fiction based Constitutional concepts and a lot of legal precedent. I was intrigued by the former and intimidated by the latter, but it was all informative. Some of the content relating to marriage and genetic testing weren't simpatico with my moral and ethical framework, so I didn't really buy into the arguments and postulating in those sections.
I attended a seminar in which the author was present, which was interesting and informative, and also created a lesson plan for an Orwell instructional unit based on his "Open Planet" hypothesis.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book introduced me to some topics, possibilities, and issues I had not previously considered. That is very good.

I picked this book for the privacy and free expression issues, but found the Neurolaw and genetics stuff fascinating. Hard to fully understand at times, hard to follow at times, but worth the effort.

I hated the typeface, size and paper to a distracting degree which cost it another star.

[Kate Mereand-Sinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful for anyone who wants to think about civil liberties in a modern age. I took the author's class on the topic. In some ways this book is about finding the right questions to ask about a changing world.

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of essays on fundamental rights and the digital age.

[Aleena Aslam]

scary

[Caroline]

Didn’t have time to read all of it, but appears to be a very good collection of articles by a range of experts. I found the level just right for an interested non-lawyer. The first piece met my needs for background on the privacy issues, case law, and options for better law on search issues that address electronic searching, remote surveillance and tailing (i.e. a geo-tracker attached to a car). The discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of potential tests that might have be met when requesting permission to use technology in a search were quite good.

I don’t have the book in front of me (ILL Had to go back) but there were also several articles on biological issues, such as genetic testing and engineering.