Generations of computer lawyers have grown up learning their law and practice from Morgan and Stedman. This reviewer did. When the book first appeared in 1979 computer contracts were obscure and somewhat esoteric, if they existed at all. Much computer law expertise, such as it was, resided with in-house lawyers in the fledgling IT sector.

By the time the sixth edition of the book came out last year, computer law had become a significant practice area in its own right. Every major commercial law firm now has an IT/technology practice. And there is now a plethora of IT law books, journals and precedents fuelled in part by the growth of e-commerce law.