Author: Ethan Katsh.
Summary: There is an old story of an ax that had been in the same family for many generations. Each generation inherited the ax, used it, and, as a cherished family heirloom, passed it along to the next generation. Recently, an old drawing of the ax was discovered, showing it as it had been originally. To the surprise of the current owners, the original was much smaller, perhaps one-half the size of what it is now, and with a smaller blade as well. Other records indicated that in the last two hundred years, the ax handle had been replaced ten times and the blade five times.
In many ways, the law is our ax. It has been a useful, important and powerful tool. It is an heirloom, an item that we cherish and take pride in. It is also extremely different from what it once was, although we have difficulty understanding how different it actually is. What we call law is not the same concept that our ancestors had in mind when they used the term.
The main theme of this book is that broad change is occurring to the law, to what it is and how it works, and that these changes are linked to the appearance of new methods of storing, processing and communicating information. We are the first society in history to have the ability to communicate electronically. Because of various qualities of electronic communication that will be described below, the control of information, the organization of information and the movement of information are no longer the same as they once were. This will have a considerable impact on an institution, such as the law, whose foundation is the processing of information but whose goals, values, capabilities and modes of operation are tied to the older methods of communicating.
Purchase: Amazon.
