Lawrence Lessig: How Technology Policy Will Evolve

A Q&A with Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig.

The latest chapter of Lawrence Lessig’s career ended in November, when the Harvard Law School professor concluded his bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. That effort centered on his campaign to reform Congressional politics. Prior to that, Professor Lessig’s scholarship, teaching and activism focused on technology policy and the Internet. He has argued for greater sharing of creative content, the easing of restrictions in areas such as copyright, and the concept of Net Neutrality. Lessig, who founded the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, is the author of numerous books on technology, including “Code: and Other Laws of Cyberspace,” and “The Future of Ideas: the Fate of the Commons in a Connected World.” CIO Journal asked Lessig for his thoughts on how technology policy, which is at multiple critical junctures around the world, can and should evolve. Privacy, surveillance, and international governance of the Internet and telecommunications networks will approach milestones in 2016, with implications for business and beyond.

When asked, "Do you think that the concept of Network Neutrality, which advanced during the Obama Administration, will survive coming challenges?" Lessig said, "The thing that people will resist … the slogan says regulation should be more technology neutral. I am not sure I ever heard a more idiotic statement in my life. There is no neutrality here, just different modes …I don’t think the law should say here is what services can do and not do, because the technology is so (fast-changing) the law could never catch up. But that (we want) to avoid are certain kinds of business models, a prison of bits, where services leverage control over access to content and profit from that control over content."