Saturday, July 31, 2010

One Open Step for One Agreeable Future

I have often wondered how the law can adapt to the ever-changing nature of information and communications technology (ICT). I find it difficult to accept the fact that the law will always be behind ICT, and that its role can never be anticipative nor preventive, only remedial. One significant factor that sent me thinking about alternatives was the ideal flexible social role of law in adjusting to the future circumstances of society.

The two alternatives that I have come up so far are: 1) to make the provisions in ICT-related laws to be open-ended or malleable enough to accommodate foreseeable changes in technology, and 2) to delegate the functions of determining the specific technical details of implementing the law to a competent authority. These two alternatives not only allow flexibility of the laws in the days ahead, but also consistency in the authority of their implementation. By keeping them in mind, I fairly state that the future ICT-related laws will not only be responsible. They will also be more agreeable to the stakeholders concerned.

-Michelle P. M. Sabitsana

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