Law of the Horse

2013-01-04T17:06:28Z

137.99.115.126: /* References */

'''Law of the Horse''' was a term used in the mid-1990s to define the state of [[cyberlaw]] during the nascent years of the Internet.

The term first gained prominence in a 1996 cyberlaw conference presentation by Judge [[Frank H. Easterbrook]] of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit]]. Easterbrook, who was also on the faculty of the [[University of Chicago]], later published his presentation in the University of Chicago Legal Forum as "Cyberspace and the Law of the Horse", in which he argued against the notion of defining cyberlaw as a unique section of legal studies and litigation.<ref name="harmon" /> Easterbrook cited [[Gerhard Casper]] as coining the expression “law of the horse,” and stated that Casper’s arguments against specialized or niche legal studies applied to cyberlaw:
{{bquote|...the best way to learn the law applicable to specialized endeavors is to study general rules. Lots of cases deal with sales of horses; others deal with people kicked by horses; still more deal with the licensing and racing of horses, or with the care veterinarians give to horses, or with prizes at horse shows. Any effort to collect these strands into a course on 'The Law of the Horse' is doomed to be shallow and to miss unifying principles.”<ref name="easterbrook" />}}

Easterbrook’s theory was challenged by [[Lawrence Lessig]], a professor at [[Harvard Law School]], in an April 1997 article "The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach."<ref name="lessig" /> Lessig’s article, which was first presented at the [[Boston University]] Law School Faculty Workshop, argued that legal perceptions and rules would need to evolve as the cyberspace environment developed and expanded.<ref name="wired" /><ref name="fausett" />

==References==
{{reflist
| refs=
<ref name="harmon">{{cite news
| first = Amy
| last = Harmon
| title = The Law Where There Is No Land; A Legal System Built on Precedents Has Few of Them in the Digital World
| work = The New York Times
| publisher = The New York Times Company
| date = March 16, 1998
| url = http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/16/business/law-where-there-no-land-legal-system-built-precedents-has-few-them-digital-world.html?pagewanted=2
| accessdate = September 252009
}}</ref><ref name="easterbrook">
{{cite news
| first = Frank H.
| last = Easterbrook
| title = Cyberspace and the Law of the Horse
| work = University of Chicago Legal Forum
| date = 1996
| url = http://www.law.upenn.edu/fac/pwagner/law619/f2001/week15/easterbrook.pdf
| accessdate = October 5, 2009
}}</ref><ref name="lessig">
{{cite journal
| last = Lessig
| first = Lawrence
| authorlink = Lawrence Lessig
| title = The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach
| journal = Communications Law and Policy: Cases and Materials, by Jerry Kang
| publisher = Aspen Law and Business
| location = New York
| year = 2001
| url = https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/works/lessig/finalhls.pdf
| accessdate = October 5, 2009
}}</ref><ref name="wired">
{{cite news
| author = Wired News Staff
| title = Newly Appointed 'Special Master' To Probe MS Issues
| work = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]
| date = December 11, 1997
| url = http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/1997/12/9118
| accessdate = October 5, 2009
}}</ref><ref name="fausett">
{{cite news
| first = Bret A.
| last = Fausett
| title = Hooray RIAA
| publisher = Dr. Dobb’s Journal
| date = February 12, 2003
| url = http://www.ddj.com/architect/184411637
| accessdate = September 25, 2009
}}</ref>
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Law Of The Horse}}
[[Category:Computer law]]
[[Category:Cyberspace]]
[[Category:Metaphors referring to animals]]

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Law of the Horse