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Cyber law: framing the future?

03 March 2021 / Dean Armstrong KC , Paul Schwartfeger
Issue: 7923 / Categories: Features , Cyber , Technology , Cybercrime
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From modest beginnings, cyber law is now a recognised disruptor, shaping & challenging the future of litigation. But what is cyber law? As part of a new NLJ cyber series, Dean Armstrong QC & Paul Schwartfeger, 36 Commercial, provide a short history of the laws, crimes & definitions associated with cyber law & share some predictions for the future

Twenty-five years have passed since US Court of Appeals Judge (and lecturer) Frank H Easterbrook suggested in his legendary paper that there was no more a law of cyberspace than there was a ‘law of the horse’ (Frank H Easterbrook, ‘Cyberspace and the Law of the Horse,’ 1996 University of Chicago Legal Forum 207 (1996)). Yet even now, when many readily describe themselves as cyber lawyers, and despite a sizeable back catalogue of cyber law matters to draw on, trying to define what cyber law is can still prove challenging.

When asked ‘what is cyber law?’, one frequently resorts to listing examples of major cybercrimes (think WikiLeaks,

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NEWS
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Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
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