Digital right and the ethics of digitisation: A case study in technology and implicit contracts

Abstract

Digitisation represents the fourth great revolution in human communication, following the invention of language, the invention of writing, and the invention of the printing press. The invention of language permitted the communication of symbolic, abstract thought. The invention of writing gave humans the ability to transmit knowledge across generations: for the first time, a person could know more than one could learn from experience in a human lifetime. However, literacy was far from universal, and books were few and far between. Thus, the benefits of literacy were restricted to a small elite: every pre-printing-press civilisation boasted only a small percentage of adult literacy. Even most rulers were illiterate; Charlemagne was notable and noted for his ability to read and write (Burroughs 1980).