Information Environmentalism: A Governance Framework for Intellectual Property Rights

nformation Environmentalism applies four environmental analytical frameworks – ecology, ‘the commons’, public choice theory, and welfare economics – to the information environment. The book neatly captures the metaphorical relationship between the physical environment and the information environment by alluding to the environmental philosophy of ‘social ecology’ and the emergent informational discourse of ‘cultural environmentalism’. The book aims to develop, refine and integrate the theoretical foundations of cultural environmentalism based on the Dewey premise that ‘there is nothing so practical as a good theory’. It is also built upon the proposition that the success of the environmental movement can be traced directly to the analytical frameworks of ecology, ‘the commons’, public choice theory and welfare economics. In the digital age, the regulation of information will have a critical impact upon the manner in which human beings conduct their lives, and the manner in which society functions more generally. In this sense, the book injects some gravitas into an issue that will become increasingly pressing throughout the 21st century.