(a) A positive law which follows a technological advance (a law regarding seat belts after seat belts were invented). Such positive laws are intended either to disseminate technology or to stifle it.

(b) An intentional legal lacuna intended to encourage a certain technology (for instance, very little legislation pertains to internet with express aim of "letting it be"). Deregulation of airlines industries is another example.

(c) Structural interventions of law (or law enforcement authorities) in a technology or its implementation. The best examples are breaking up of AT&T in 1984 and current anti-trust case against Microsoft. Such structural transformations of monopolists release hitherto monopolized information (for instance, source codes of software) to public and increases competition - mother of invention.

(d) The conscious encouragement, by law, of technological research (research and development). This can be done directly through government grants and consortia, Japan's MITI being finest example of this approach. It can also be done indirectly - for instance, by freeing up capital and labour markets which often leads to formation of risk or venture capital invested in new technologies. The USA is most prominent (and, now, emulated) example of this path.

4. A Law that cannot be made known to citizenry or that cannot be effectively enforced is a "dead letter" - not a law in vitalist, dynamic sense of word. For instance, Laws of Hammurabi (his codex) are still available (through internet) to all. Yet, do we consider them to be THE or even A Law? We do not and this is because Hammurabi's codex is both unknown to citizenry and inapplicable. Hammurabi's Laws are inapplicable not because they are anachronistic. Islamic law is as anachronistic as Hammurabi's code - yet it IS applicable and applied in many countries. Applicability is result of ENFORCEMENT. Laws are manifestations of asymmetries of power between state and its subjects. Laws are enshrining of violence applied for "common good" (whatever that is - it is a shifting, relative concept).

Technology plays an indispensable role in both dissemination of information and in enforcement efforts. In other words, technology helps teach citizens what are laws and how are they likely to be applied (for instance, through courts, their decisions and precedents). More importantly, technology enhances efficacy of law enforcement and, thus, renders law applicable. Police cars, court tape recorders, DNA imprints, fingerprinting, phone tapping, electronic surveillance, satellites - are all instruments of more effective law enforcement. In a broader sense, ALL technology is at disposal of this or that law. Take defibrillators. They are used to resuscitate patients suffering from severe cardiac arrhythmia's. But such resuscitation is MANDATORY by LAW. So, defibrillator - a technological medical instrument - is, in a way, a law enforcement device.

Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, United Press International (UPI) and eBookWeb and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com.

Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com

4. The great equalizer

Very early on, denizens of countries in transition have caught on to "great equalizer" effects of Net. They used it to vent their frustrations and aggression, to conduct cyber-warfare, to unleash an explosion of visual creativity and to engage in deconstructive discourse.

By great equalizer - I meant equalizer with rich, developed countries. See article I quoted above. The citizens of countries in transition are frustrated by their inability to catch up with affluence and prosperity of West. They feel inferior, neglected, looked down upon, dictated to and, in general, put down. The Internet is perceived as something which can restore balance. Only, of course, it cannot. It is still a rich people's medium. President Clinton points out Digital Divide within America - such a divide exists to a much larger extent and with more venomous effects between developed and developing world. Internet has done nothing to bridge this gap - on contrary: It enhanced productivity and economic growth (this is known as "The New Economy") of rich countries (mainly States) and left have-nots in dust.

5. Intellectual property

The concept of intellectual property - foreign to global Internet culture to start with - became an emblem of Western hegemony and monopolistic practices. Violating copyright, software piracy and hacking became both status symbols and a political declaration of sorts. But rapid dissemination of programs and information (for instance, illicit copies of reference works) served to level playing field.

Piracy of material is quite prevalent in countries in transition. The countries in transition are second capital of piracy (after Asia). Software, films, even books - are copied and distributed quite freely and openly. There are street vendors who deal in counterfeit products - but most of it is sold through stores and OEMs.

I think that intellectual property will go way pharmaceutical industry did: Instead of fighting windmills - owners and distributors of intellectual property will join trend. They are likely to team up with sponsors which will subsidize price of intellectual property in order to make it affordable to denizens of poor countries. Such sponsors could be either multi-lateral institutions (such as World Bank) - or charities and donors.

Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, United Press International (UPI) and eBookWeb and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com.

Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com