BOOK REVIEW

Ian J LLoyd, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LAW
Second Edition, Butterworths, UK, 1997

This comprehensive book is easy to read and should be on the 
reading lists of lawyers and law students as well as professionals 
and managers working in the computing area.  While primarily concerned 
with the UK and European Union, it nevertheless adopts an 
international focus and makes frequent reference to inquiries and 
legal developments in the United States and other jurisdictions.  
Since discussion is not limited to an exposition of the current 
state of the law but covers in some detail the development of the 
law in a number of important areas, the book provides a valuable 
resource for scholars and practitioners alike.  An additional 
feature of the book is the accompanying web site, which provides 
background material and updates in the form of downloadable full 
text cases and statutes, as well as links to other useful 
web sites.

As could be expected, much of the second edition of the book deals 
with laws relating to the Internet.  Developments in information 
technology and the Internet and the legal response to these 
technological advances are the subject of the first two chapters 
of the book.  A reminder of just how rapid these developments have 
been is provided by Professor Lloyd's observation that in the 
first edition of the book in 1993 the word "Internet" appeared only 
three times and in each case merely as a footnote reference to material 
held on a newsgroup. 

The content is structured around two main themes: regulation for 
and regulation of the information society.  Whereas the first relates 
to situations where the role of law is to prescribe the terms and 
conditions under which activities may take place, the second is 
concerned with establishing a legal framework within which 
individuals and companies can conduct business.  The Introduction 
explains how the development of the computer, and its capability to 
store and process vast amounts of data, have transformed the value of 
information into a commodity and how the heavy reliance on computers 
has changed the world into an information society. 

Current regulation of the information society is manifested in the form 
of privacy and data protection and computer crime.  Chapters 3 to 9 deal 
with privacy and data protection, with a comprehensive analysis of data 
protection, individual rights and remedies.  Chapters 10 to 15 deal with 
computer crime/computer misuse.  A range of topics are covered, including: 
computer crime statutes, computer fraud, theft of information, computer 
pornography, and detection and prosecution of computer crime.

Regulation for the information society is explained in terms of intellectual 
property law, liability for defective software, and the emerging area of 
electronic commerce.  Chapters 16 to 26 cover all aspects of intellectual 
property relevant to the computing area, namely, software patents, copyright 
in computer software, database protection, trademarks, and protection of 
semiconductor chip designs.  In a world which is increasingly reliant on 
computer software, chapters 27 to 29 deal with liability for defective 
software and provide advice for software developers on good software 
development practices which should be in place to minimise exposure to 
liability.   The book concludes with chapters on electronic commerce, 
cryptography and defamation, timely topics in an information world.

This book provides software developers, in particular Internet programmers, 
with sound advice in relation to ways of protecting their intellectual 
property in the software and databases they develop, and means of reducing the 
risk of liability for defective software.  The explanation of the limits 
of private and public data, as well as rights of individuals, will be 
especially relevant for users of data, whether software developers or 
managers.  For lawyers, the book offers an overview of many of the 
legal aspects of information technology and the Internet, adopting a 
perspective which traces the developments of laws in response to 
technological change.


Reviewed by:
Anne Fitzgerald and Cristina Cifuentes
Software Engineering Australia and The University of Queensland
Brisbane, Australia
10 Aug 1998