O que caracteriza a sociedade da informação e da comunicação? Um novo paradigma social?

1. O que caracteriza a sociedade da informação e da comunicação? Um novo paradigma social? • A sociedade da informação e da comunicação: ruptura ou continuidade; utopia e realidade. • Direito da informação e da comunicação: um ramo do direito autónomo ou tão-só uma nova abordagem a novos fenómenos? • Objecto e fins do direito da informação e da comunicação.

2. “Technological advance is, more often than not, the ultimate driving force behind the development of new laws. Although some will point to shifting social mores and values as the primary catalyst to new legal paradigms, these cultural changes are integrally intertwined with technological advancement; it is almost always the new technologies that create the new ideas. Technology so permeates our social order that it, in a very real sense, defines us. A fundamental shift in technology is more than a change in the implements that we use, it is a change in who we are, in what we do, and how we do it.” (Cavazos e Morin)

3. “That the Internet and related technologies will precipitate new rules of law is beyond question; legislators have already promulgated regulations in response to it, and various state and federal courts have been forced to interpret old precedent in new ways because of it. The deeper question is whether global computer networks will cause a fundamental shift in other areas of the law.” • “The result may well be a socio-legal revolution of a much deeper and important type than anticipated, the first signs of which can already be seen. Understanding the pressures that may cause this revolution is a crucial step to understanding what is in store.” (Cavazos e Morin)

4. Information may be the principal commodity of an information economy in an information age, but policymakers need to realize that information is not just a commodity. It is also an essential input to innovation, knowledge creation, education, and social and political discourse. If information is commodified too much, these social values may be impaired. • Policymakers need to realize that the information policies they adopt now in relation to the Internet will have profound effects on the information society that will result from these actions. Lawyers and legal scholars can help to formulate information policies that will produce an information society that we would actually like to live in. (Samuelson)