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21 Pac. McGeorge Global Bus. & Dev. L.J. 1 (2008)
Behavioral Perspective on Technology Evolution and Domain Name Regulation

handle is hein.journals/tranl21 and id is 3 raw text is: Symposium-I Think I Can, I Think ICANN:
Regulating the Internet... or Not
A Behavioral Perspective on Technology Evolution and
Domain Name Regulation
Todd Davies*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.   INTRODUCTION      ............................................................................................  2
II. PSYCHOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF LAW                        ................ 2
A.   The Making of Law and Legal Conservatism ........................................ 3
1.  Behavioral Research and Lawmaking ............................................ 4
a.   Status  Q uo  Bias ......................................................................   4
b.   Biased  Assim  ilation  ..................................................................  6
c.   Self-Serving Biases in Fairness Judgments .............................. 7
d.   System Justification and Conservatism ................................... 7
e.   The Iron Law of Oligarchy ....................................................... 8
2.   Technology and Lawmaking ........................................................... 9
B. Legal Concepts and Incremental Refinement ..................................... 10
1.   Behavioral Research and Legal Concepts ..................................... 11
a.   Progressive Differentiation of Concepts .................................... 11
b.   O vergeneralization   ................................................................  12
2.   Technology and Concept Evolution .............................................. 12
III. SIMPLE NONRIVAL GOODS ........................................................................ 13
A. Nonrival Goods, Excludability, and Public Goods .............................. 13
B .  Sim ple  G oods .......................................................................................  14
C. Simple Nonrival Goods: Examples ..................................................... 14
D. Observations about Simple Nonrival Goods ....................................... 15
E. Loss Aversion and Rights Assignment ................................................. 16
1.   Variables Affecting Loss Aversion ................................................ 16
2.   Loss Aversion, Perceived Justice, and Property Rights ................ 17
* Associate Director and Lecturer, Symbolic Systems Program, Stanford University. President (July
2006-May 2007), Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR). The views expressed herein are
solely my own, and do not represent those of CPSR, the Symbolic Systems Program, or Stanford University.
This paper is based on my presentation at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge Law School in February
2007-video available at http://iiswebdev.pacific.edulmcgeorge/videos/icann/icann-panel3.wmv (last visited
Feb. 25, 2008), slides available at http://www.stanford.edu/%7Edavies/ICANN-McGeorge.pdf, (last visited
Mar. 2, 2008)-although that presentation contained some material not included in this paper which I hope to
publish elsewhere. I wish to thank Eric Goldman, David Levine, and other participants at the McGeorge
Symposium for helpful comments.

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