(INTELLECTUAL) PROPERTY AND SOVEREIGNTY - NOTES TOWARD A CULTURAL-GEOGRAPHY OF AUTHORSHIP

Keith Aoki discusses the challenge that the rise of digital informatio n technology poses to traditional legal conceptions of property. He ch ronicles the evolution of the idea of ''property'' and its relationshi p to ''sovereignty'' in Anglo-American law. In contrast to development s in other areas of property law, the legal characterization and prote ction of intellectual property rights maintain a sharp boundary betwee n public and private, a division counter to early understandings of co pyright law. Professor Aoki locates the origins of this division in a deeply embedded image of originary romantic authorship, which is evoke d to justify rights in information itself As information flows more fr eely across borders, supranational sovereignty over information erodes traditional, territorial notions of sovereignty. Professor Aoki calls attention to the flaws in our current maps of intellectual property a nd concludes that reimagining the regulation of digital information fl ows will shape both the conceptual and the physical geography of the i nformation age.