Quigley Muireann, Ayihongbe Semande
Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT, UK.
Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University, 21-24 Windsor Terrace, Newcastle, NE1 7RU, UK.
Med Law Rev. 2018 May 1;26(2):276-308. doi: 10.1093/medlaw/fwy003.
Using the metaphor and actuality of the 'everyday cyborg', this article makes the case that the law is ill-equipped to deal with challenges raised by the linking of the organic, biological person with synthetic, inorganic parts and devices. For instance, should internal medical devices that keep the person alive be viewed as part of the person or mere objects (or something else)? Is damage to neuro-prostheses (eg nervous system integrated limb prostheses) personal injury or damage to property? Who ought to control/own the software in implanted medical devices? And how should the law deal with risks around third-party device access (including that of unauthorised access and hacking)? We argue that satisfactorily answering such questions will likely require a re-analysis of the conceptual and philosophical underpinnings of the law, as well as the law itself. To demonstrate this, we examine the uncharted terrain which everyday cyborgs pose for the law, looking in particular at five areas: (i) medical device regulation, safety, and product liability; (ii) damage to devices and liability; (iii) data and privacy; (iv) security and biohacking; and (v) intellectual property rights. The article highlights how advancing biotechnology continues to reveal, and prompts us to confront, lacunae within the law. Our analysis calls particular attention to law's boundary-work (how the law utilises and incorporates supposed ontological and moral boundaries) and the challenges which everyday cyborgs pose to this.
本文运用“日常赛博格”的隐喻及实际情况，论证了法律在应对将有机的生物人与合成的无机部件及设备相连接所引发的挑战方面准备不足。例如，维持生命的体内医疗设备应被视为人的一部分还是仅仅是物体（或其他东西）？对神经假体（如神经系统集成肢体假肢）的损害属于人身伤害还是财产损害？谁应该控制/拥有植入式医疗设备中的软件？法律应如何应对第三方设备接入带来的风险（包括未经授权的接入和黑客攻击）？我们认为，要令人满意地回答这些问题，可能需要重新分析法律的概念和哲学基础以及法律本身。为了证明这一点，我们审视了日常赛博格给法律带来的未知领域，特别关注五个方面：（i）医疗设备监管、安全及产品责任；（ii）设备损坏及责任；（iii）数据与隐私；（iv）安全与生物黑客行为；（v）知识产权。本文强调了生物技术的不断发展如何持续揭示并促使我们面对法律中的漏洞。我们的分析特别关注法律的边界界定工作（法律如何利用并纳入假定的本体论和道德边界）以及日常赛博格对此带来的挑战。
