ITECHLAW 2014 * Choice of laws in technology agreements (10459)
This paper examines whether the access of individuals to technology is developing as a basic right of a citizen. In developed nations where labour costs are high, businesses and governments are increasingly turning to online and web-based services. Access to the Internet to access government services and competitively priced goods and services grow ever important and vital. But what of those that do not have access to the Internet? Are they the new underclass; unable to access government services, competitively priced goods and services or participate in the democracy that the Internet enables. Does the Internet therefore breed a technocracy? Is this just a generational matter?
If access to technology is a basic right, what does this mean at the International Law level, where developed nations (the equivalent of techno-savvy individuals) have access to and trade in technology with other developed nations, and developing nations have none. This is put into sharp focus when considering Climate Change and the International negotiation on technological climate change mitigation.