A Layered Approach for Exploring the Relationship between Law and Technology

Current discussions on the relationship between law and technology tend to either explore a one-way ‘influences/is influenced by’ relationship between the two elements or they view technology as a ‘tool’ used to uphold the law. Little research has gone beyond this to explore in depth how the elements of law and technology have interacted in various circumstances and thus evolved into their current forms. This paper will explore the relationship between these two elements for one specific technology, namely Digital Rights Management (DRM) Systems in online and mobile services in the music industry and the laws related to it. It will present a layered approach for the exploration of how these two elements have interacted and evolved into the shape and form they are today in order to inform ongoing research on the law-technology relationship and the development of theories within the IS field in general.