Digital Commons Network^™

Your Life As An Open Book: Has Technology Rendered Personal Privacy Virtually Obsolete?, Sandra Byrd Peterson

Federal Communications Law Journal

As society becomes increasingly automated, the ability of individuals to protect their "information privacy" is practically nonexistent. Information that was once kept on paper in filing cabinets is now on-line in computer databases. At the touch of a computer key, a complete stranger can conveniently access and compile from a variety of different sources a dossier of intimate, personal information about people without their knowledge. Perhaps more shocking is the current lack of legal recourse available to contest the nonconsensual use of personal data.

In this Note, the Author examines the currently loose constitutional and common-law protections and suggests strategies …

Up In Smoke: The Ftc's Refusal To Apply The "Unfairness Doctrine" To Camel Cigarette Advertising, John Harrington

Federal Communications Law Journal

RJR Nabisco's cigarette advertising icon "Joe Camel" has become one of the most-recognized marketing mascots in America. Unfortunately, the debonair cartoon character attracts recognition, and cigarette buyers, among children. The huge popularity of the advertising campaign among an arguably inappropriate market prompted action by both legislators and the Federal Trade Commission. However, 1990 legislation did not pass the committee stage, and the FTC ended its investigation of the questionable effect the advertising had on children in 1994.

Although the FTC chose not to limit or ban RJR Nabisco's use of Old Joe, this Note contends that regulation was within the …