ABSTRACT
The Law 2.0 conversation is not about the internal coherence or the application of general legal principles but about whether the rules are fit for purpose in responding to emerging technologies. For regulators who aspire to get it right, a Law 2.0 mindset might pose the right questions, but with rapidly developing and contested technologies, the answers can be elusive. Technology, in short, is a problematic target for regulators. One of the distinctive challenges presented to regulators by rapidly developing modern technologies is, quite simply, the pace of their development. Technology is capable of leaving the law behind at any phase of the regulatory cycle: namely, before regulators have anything resembling an agreed position, before the terms of the regulation are finalised, and once the regulatory scheme is in place. Moreover, even (or especially) when regulatory frameworks have been put in place, they enjoy no immunity against technological change.
