Owned : property, privacy, and the new digital serfdom / Joshua A.T. Fairfield .

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2017.

1st edition

87755

Computers -- Law and legislation -- United States.

Right of property -- United States.

Electronic information resources -- Law and legislation -- United States.

Data protection -- Law and legislation -- United States.

Intellectual property.

Contract law.

Personal property.

1. Introduction

2. The death of property

3. Surrounded

4. So what?

5. Private property

6. Property as information

7. The future of property

8. Jailbreaking ownership

9. Owners or owned?

In this compelling examination of the intersection of smart technology and the law, Joshua A. T. Fairfield explains the crisis of digital ownership - how and why we no longer control our smartphones or software-enable devices, which are effectively owned by software and content companies. In two years we will not own our 'smart' televisions which will also be used by advertisers to listen in to our living rooms. In the coming decade, if we do not take back our ownership rights, the same will be said of our self-driving cars and software-enabled homes. We risk becoming digital peasants, owned by software and advertising companies, not to mention overreaching governments. Owned should be read by anyone wanting to know more about the loss of our property rights, the implications for our privacy rights and how we can regain control of both. Engaging and exhaustively researched, with clear and copious examples which explain complex legal problems with accessible stories. Proposes a new theory of property-as-information, explaining how to make traditional property rules work online. Makes property theory accessible to a general audience, helping readers understand the reach and role of the institution of property in society. - Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

9781316612200

ix, 250 p. ; 23 cm