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Digisprudence: Code as Law Rebooted
Laurence Diver combines insight from legal theory, philosophy of technology and programming practice to develop a new theoretical and practical approach to the design of legitimate software. The book critically engages with the rule(s) of code, arguing that, like laws, these should exhibit certain formal characteristics if they are to be acceptable in a democracy. The resulting digisprudential affordances translate ideas of legitimacy from legal philosophy into the world of code design, to be realised through the ‘constitutional’ role played by programming languages, integrated development environments (IDEs), and agile development practice. The text interweaves theory and practice throughout, including many insights into real-world technologies, as well as case studies on blockchain applications and the Internet of Things (IoT).
276 pages, Hardcover
Published December 2, 2021
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November 9, 2022
A thoughtful approach to code as a source of normativity, proposing criteria for the legitimacy of the norms expressed in software. In doing so, the author engages seriously with the complexities of software development as a field and the materiality of computer systems rather than looking at algorithms as abstract entities. Given the close attachment to the materiality of software, the focus on legisprudence and its conditions of production of legitimate legal orders seems a bit odd, as one might argue that the legitimacy of code should be more akin to the legitimacy of contracts or other social norms, in which legal constraints play a mediate rather than an immediate role. Furthermore, it would be interesting to see how the legitimacy framework can be extended to contexts beyond the end-user-centric debate on affordances. But I only raise these points to make clear that this book is a fruitful inquiry into how technological normativity operates and how it can be controlled. Thus, it is a must-read for those interested in technology law and its foundations.
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