Autonomous Organizations

Software systems can be given legal personhood, allowing them to enter into contracts, serve as legal agents, or own property. This study argues that this is not as scary as it might sound and offers an opportunity for useful new types of interactions between software and the law.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 190 pages
\n Publication date: 14 October 2021
\n Publisher: Cambridge University Press
\n

The current business law allows for the granting of legal personhood, or a closely resembling form, to software systems of various types. This means that robots, for instance, can enter into contracts, act as legal agents, or own property. In the future, it is conceivable that entire companies could be managed by non-human agents. This study contends that this scenario is not as intimidating as it may initially appear. Legal theorist and renowned software developer Shawn Bayern argues that autonomous or zero-person organizations present a potential for valuable new types of interactions between software and the law. This innovative contribution to the theory and practice of law and technology delves into the social and political dimensions of these novel organizational structures and their ramifications for legal theory.

\n Weight: 298g\n
Dimension: 152 x 230 x 17 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781108813853\n \n