Cooper, Diana Marina --- "The application of a “sufficiently and selectively open license” to limit liability and ethical concerns associated with open robotics" [2016] ELECD 235; in Calo, Ryan; Froomkin, Michael A.; Kerr, Ian (eds), "Robot Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) 163

Book Title: Robot Law

Editor(s): Calo, Ryan; Froomkin, Michael A.; Kerr, Ian

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783476725

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: The application of a “sufficiently and selectively open license” to limit liability and ethical concerns associated with open robotics

Author(s): Cooper, Diana Marina

Number of pages: 23

Abstract/Description:

Open robots may be more problematic than their closed counterparts from a legal and ethical perspective. The lack of ability to constrain use of the technology in certain downstream applications makes it difficult for open robot manufacturers to minimize unethical use of their technologies. Some form of intervention is required if the industry is to adopt a “sufficiently open” model and fulfill the goal of achieving “a robot in every home.” This chapter makes the case for adopting a licensing approach that deviates from traditional open licences by imposing certain restrictions on downstream modification and use, in order to allocate liability between manufacturers and users. The author explores the obstacles to mainstream adoption of a “sufficiently open” model, including the concerns about physical harm, social harm, and privacy implications. Proposed measures to overcome these barriers have included providing selective immunity to manufacturers and distributors of open robots. The author suggests that Ryan Calo’s proposal, to grant selective immunity to open robot manufacturers, be supplemented with a licensing approach to regulation. Readers are presented with the Ethical Robot License (ERL), a preliminary license draft that acts as a starting point in the discussion of ethical licensing of open robots. The proper scope of the licence, operationalization of the license, and analogous contexts demonstrating where ethics have been infused into commercial transactions, are outlined and discussed. This approach aims to reduce the scope and scale of harmful and unethical use of open robots through the establishment of obligations and restrictions on downstream applications and operating environments. The license allocates liability, requires insurance, and allows for increased remedies.