Indiana Law Journal Volume 91 Issue 3 Article 9 Spring 2016 The Right to Attention Jasper L. Tran George Mason University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj Part of the Communications Law Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, Internet Law Commons, Marketing Law Commons, Natural Law Commons, and the Privacy Law Commons Recommended Citation Tran, Jasper L. (2016) "The Right to Attention," Indiana Law Journal: Vol. 91 : Iss. 3 , Article 9. Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj/vol91/iss3/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Journals at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Indiana Law Journal by an authorized editor of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Right to Attention JASPER L. TRAN* “In the future, our attention will be sold.”1 What marketing, contracts, and healthcare—specifically informed consent and mandatory ultrasounds—have in common is the right to attention from the information receiver. However, scholarship most often focuses on the communicator’s perspective (e.g., how much information the communicator discloses) or on the information itself, but surprisingly, not much on the receiver’s perspective. This dearth of scholarship from the information receiver’s perspective is problematic, because the information receiver is often the “little guy” in the conversation. We own and are entitled to our attention because attention is a property right and part of our individual dignity.