Social Law - the future of legislation?

Among all the posts last week about the Universal lawsuit  against MySpace, Ian Delaney's fits in nicely with a very interesting conversation I had yesterday with blogger and solicitor, Justin Patten.

Justin blogs at Human Law and called to chat about social media, business and the law. One point that really got me thinking was the way the current law functions on the internet and the impact social media is having on the way laws are enforced.

I mean, we all pretty much know that the best to deal with a potentially confrontational situation in the blogosphere isn't to slap a big ol' lawsuit on the other party. Engage with them; reason with them; try to find a mutually agreeable solution where both parties are winners in the eyes of the online community.

This is why it is called social media.

Ian Delaney's post is relevant because he highlights the actions taken by socially savvy MySpace to attempt to resolve key issues, such as copyright infringement, before the music and video giants get pissed off.

Meanwhile the traditional media behemoths such as Universal - which argubly does't get social media - go straight for the legal jugular.

To bring this back to the conversation I had with Justin, I suggested that in the same way society is being re-shaped by the internet, so too will laws and legislation have to change.

I explained that in my eyes the best way lawyers could take on the blogosphere would be to move towards a mediation model over a confrontation model. This struck a chord with Justin - at least I think it did. I'd had a lot of coffee.

Rather than issuing cease and desist orders willy-nilly perhaps lawyers should embark on a process of mediation to try to resolve the problem without recoursing to dead-end legal action.

It makes sense. The media is becoming socialised. Business is becoming socialised (see social search). Politics and public policy making is starting to become socialised. So is it not right that our legal systems - which help shape and frame how the above function - should also become socialised?

Or is it just me?

Comments

[Ian Delaney]

The Californian blog libel ruling today could be of relevance here. It certainly seems to be empowering social network publishers and absolving them of the actions of their members.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2464940,00.html