The Right to Privacy in the Light of Media Convergence—Perspectives from Three Continents

The third volume in the Media Convergence series analyzing the effects of the digital revolution on media, communication, education, marketing, and the public, this book looks at right-to-privacy law. The editors are distinguished scholars of law in Germany (U. of Mainz, Mainz Media Institute) and the US (Brandeis School of Law, Louisville). The book compares and contrasts legal situations on three continents, through contributions on specific topics and situations by lawyers in the US, Europe, and Australia. Multiple legal frameworks for considering privacy are usefully shown here. Contributors weigh in on subjects including the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution as law enforcement or privacy, the establishment of general privacy law in Britain (which protects citizens from concrete losses but has no history of protecting abstract rights), the contrary world of France, where abstract rights are protected in multiple ways but specifics are lacking, and Australian attempts to find language for updating its inadequate federal privacy laws. Specific cases in several countries are also discussed. The book is clearly written, but will be most understandable to readers with legal background. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Dieter Dorr, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat, Mainz; Russell L. Weaver,
University of Louisville, USA.