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Owned: Property, Privacy, and the New Digital Serfdom

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
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In this compelling examination of the intersection of smart technology and the law, Joshua A. T. Fairfield explains the crisis of digital ownership - how and why we no longer control our smartphones or software-enable devices, which are effectively owned by software and content companies. In two years we will not own our 'smart' televisions which will also be used by advertisers to listen in to our living rooms. In the coming decade, if we do not take back our ownership rights, the same will be said of our self-driving cars and software-enabled homes. We risk becoming digital peasants, owned by software and advertising companies, not to mention overreaching governments. Owned should be read by anyone wanting to know more about the loss of our property rights, the implications for our privacy rights and how we can regain control of both.
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  1. ISBN-10
    1316612201
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1316612200
  3. Publisher
    Cambridge University Press
  4. Publication date
    July 10, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.65 x 9 inches
  7. Print length
    256 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Advance praise: 'Property in the digital age is getting strange. You can own things you can't see or touch, like Bitcoins. But your ownership of things you can, like your car and your phone, has never been less secure. Owned is an essential guide to how not to get owned by the things you think you own.' James Grimmelmann, Cornell University, New York

Advance praise: 'The transition from an economy built around physical goods to one premised on the exchange of information presents profound challenges for traditional notions of personal property. Nothing less than our autonomy, security, and privacy are at stake. In Owned, Fairfield illuminates the path forward for property. He offers a powerful theoretical vision and a set of practical reforms that could help us restore control over our digital futures. Aaron Perzanowski, co-author of The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy

Advance praise: 'The Internet of Things presents new threats to liberty. You don't own your front door; the company running its software does. Fairfield tells us how law needs to change to protect our ancient rights of ownership over the things we buy.' Edward Castronova, Indiana University

Book Description

Owned provides a legal analysis of the legal, social, and technological developments that have driven an erosion of property rights in the digital context.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press (July 10, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1316612201
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1316612200
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.65 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
10 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Blankman1818
5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, entertaining, and an excellent reference book
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2018
Verified Purchase
I was concerned that this may be an impossible read by a legal scholar, but Professor Fairfield uses a plain-speak style of writing with humor that makes this easy reading. He documents his sources well and guides the reader through his reasoning, conclusions, and suggested remedies. I suspect he’s an excellent teacher. I once owned a copy of the Beatles White Album, two actually (LP vinyl & CD). As I purged myself of “stuff” over the years I bought it again on iTunes. So, I bought it 3 times and end up owning nothing… at least Apple lets me listen to it.
4 people found this helpful
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5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2017
Verified Purchase
Incredibly timely commentary everyone needs to know! Read it!
4 people found this helpful
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David Wineberg
5.0 out of 5 stars Digital Feudalism
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2017
The essence of Joshua Fairfield’s Owned is that igadgets have managed to secure their position as still belonging to the seller after the sale. Sellers maintain control, and sue their customers when they try to use their property as they see fit. This goes against hundreds of years of property and privacy law. The sellers have convinced regulators, lawmakers and the courts to judge them under copyright laws, which favor them, and which are inappropriate, unfair, and a completely wrong application of law.

The founding principle here seems to be the RAM test. The very fact that igadgets work by taking a program and copying it into RAM when you turn it on means you have made an illegal copy and are subject to a $150,000 fine under the DMCA - should the seller/overlord see fit to prosecute. From this flow all kinds of counterintuitive rights for sellers, and fatal restrictions for buyers.

So, like feudal peasants, we bow to the feudal overlord and master in order to have any use of our expensive igadgets at all. We allow them to use up half the memory with bloatware we cannot remove. We allow them to track us, to send all our personal and private data, from our every keystroke to all our unsaved documents, to their private clouds for storage and resale to other companies. And all without our knowledge or consent, let alone compensation. And we have no right or ability to stop any of it. We need 21st century laws.

To no one’s surprise, the law seeks to reinforce old ways rather than encourage innovation. Downloading a program means you don’t own it, while purchasing a box with a CD inside (of the same program) means you do own it - is where old law meets new technology.

In making his case, Fairfield examines it all from a multiple perspectives. For centuries, property and privacy were linked. What was yours was inviolable. We have lost that connection, allowing companies into our homes unbidden. And they run amok. We would not allow anyone to do this given a choice, but with igadgets, the sellers have arranged for no choice. You agree in advance, or the igadget doesn’t function.

Property rights are information, Fairfield says. They are the set of standards, rules and regulations surrounding a thing that make it private property. He says a thing is a thing when it is designed to appear that way to a human .Thingness is perception. igadgets are things, not licensed services. The 40 page end user license agreements of igadgets don’t fit that model.

Fairfield has a four part solution:
-restore ownership rights to the individual property owners
-limit the reach of contracts
-enable owners to alter smart property and stop limits on judicial redress
-implement decentralized property systems

He goes into exquisite detail to make and prove his points. It is all very readable, and intuitively correct. Clearly, the sellers have other ideas, but Fairfield is confident, for some reason, that logic and proportion will win out. I wish I shared his optimism.

David Wineberg
12 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars It's funny, personal
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2017
It's funny, personal, perfectly explains our feeling of helplessness in the digital age and shows us what can be done about it.
5 people found this helpful
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