Book Reviews

Abstract

Presents a review of the book, "The Cambridge Handbook of Technical Standardization Law: Further Intersect ions of Public and Private Law (Contreras, J.L., Ed.). This book on technical standardization law is one of the more timely books available in this area. It in fact a continuation of the previous book by the same editor covering technical standardization law from the perspective of competition, antitrust, and patents. However, in this volume 2 of the book, the focus is on the intersections of public and private laws with respect to standardization. It surveys how today’s standardization is affected by both the public and private laws across the United States and Europe. This book is useful for researchers, practitioners, post-graduate students, lawyers, judges, policy makers, and most importantly to all those who are involved in communication standardization activities in any capacity. The main feature of this book is that it gives examples of standards that are currently in practice. For instance, throughout the book, the discussion revolves around standardization bodies such as the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the American National Standard Institute (ANSI), the International Standards Organization (ISO), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the British Standards Institute (BSI), and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Additionally, this book covers copyright and trademark issues with respect to communication protocols, standards, and technologies such as HTML, XML, HTTP, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and USB. On top of this discussion, one of the unique features of this book is its coverage of open standards and government policies for their adoption, both in the United- States and Europe. Overall, however, this book is a good reference book for courses on telecom policy, cyber ethics and laws, and standardization laws. In simple words, it is important to investigate how international trade law, copyright, trademarks, certifications, and legal frameworks influence private standardization activities, more particularly in the context of the networked economy and broadly in the communications sector.