Google’s GC Calls for Information Law Development

May 17, 2010 - By Virginia Henschel
Google’s GC Calls for Information Law Development

Kent Walker, Vice President and General Counsel of Google was the closing speaker at the Chief Legal Officer Conference in San Francisco last week; a brilliant strategy by the conference organizers to save an intriguing speaker for last. The conference started strong as well, the kick off speaker Samuel Walker, CLO of Molson Coors Brewing Company, was terrific on FCPA and Antitrust Enforcement Developments.

Mr. Walker spoke to “The GC’s Responsibility in Innovation and Technological Advancements.” His presentation was quite theoretical and academic. There were no “war stories” such as the inside story on Google going toe-to-toe with China in the recent dispute over open access. However, his immersion in legal conflicts around the globe on behalf of Google has informed his opinion that we are in the middle of a revolution as profound as the invention of the steam engine. That revolution impinges on our current systems of laws.

Do we need a new system of “Information Law”? He notes that Trust & Estate law developed in the 14th century and Contract Law developed in the 17th century, both in response to the evolving social and commercial cultures. At a minimum, jurisdiction is a concept that needs to be reworked in web 2.0 environments. Google is keenly aware that the “Information Revolution” is accelerating the clash of cultural values as information entities seek to operate globally. The selling and manipulation of information as a business may be the principal export of the United States in the information economy.

Walker calls for new legal concepts, beyond intellectual property law. The development of intellectual property law was to aid the progress of science on behalf of society as a whole; we are at a critical juncture to develop a body of information technology law that can serve the global exchange of information. The generation that relates to online content creation and exchanges for all aspects of their lives is in our schools now.

Immersed in the realm of electronic discovery at ADI, we see the failure of existing legal concepts to provide reliable precedent for the determination of many issues – including our frequent blog topics on the intersection of privacy concepts with the creation, storage and manipulation of ESI. The Sedona Conference rose up to the challenge of making the federal rules “work” for the exchange and production of ESI in litigation. We need a similar organization to dedicate legal minds to the development of new legal concepts towards a corpus of global information technology law.

Virginia Henschel is Vice President of E-Discovery Affairs for Applied Discovery. In this role, she advises clients on best practices for litigation readiness for e-discovery, including data mapping, database development, litigation hold notices, meet and confer preparation and managed reviews. Ms. Henschel previously served as E-Discovery Counsel for Sunoco, Inc., specializing in multi-district, complex litigation. Prior to joining Sunoco, Inc., she served as Assistant General Counsel for a global Fortune 500 corporation where she managed global risk and litigation.

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