Digital Commons Network^™

Sexual Harassment: Limiting The Affirmative Defense In The Digital Workplace, Donald P. Harris, Daniel B. Garrie, Matthew J. Armstrong

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Digital communications sexual harassment is on the rise. Such harassment occurs through sexually offensive and unwarranted e-mails, placing harassing messages on electronic bulletin boards, and other forms of harassment that occur through the Internet. To date, courts have remained silent on the issue of sexual harassment by digital communications. Should this type of harassment be treated any differently than harassment that occurs in the physical space? The somewhat surprising answer is yes.

This Article advocates applying a new judicial framework for addressing digital communications sexual harassment. This new framework accounts for the real-world technology in the digital workplace and the …

Unmasking The John Does Of Cyberspace: Surveillance By Private Copyright Owners, Amy Min-Chee Fong

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The goals of this paper are to: (1) explore the expectations of cyberspace privacy in a peer-to-peer context; (2) examine the consequences to Internet users arising from the surveillance tactics of private copyright owners; and (3) discuss possible ways in which a balance can be achieved between privacy and intellectual property rights. Part II of this paper sets out the meaning of information privacy, discusses the widespread use of peer-to-peer networks for trading copyrighted content, and examines the expectations of privacy in peer-to-peer networks. Part III discusses the surveillance tactics of private copyright owners, and explains how the surveillance of …

The Failure Of The Rule Of Law In Cyberspace?: Reorienting The Normative Debate On Borders And Territorial Sovereignty, 24 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 1 (2005), H. Brian Holland

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The purpose of this article is to suggest a different perspective on the issue of extraterritorial regulation in cyberspace. The article begins by outlining the Johnson-Post-Goldsmith debate which addressed the significance and legitimacy of physical, geographically-defined borders and territorial sovereignty in the regulation of cyberspace. The debate focused primarily on two areas of disagreement: First, whether and to what extent the architecture of the Internet is borderless or boundary-destroying, so as to be resistant to regulatory regimes grounded in territorial authority; and second, whether and to what extent a nation may legitimately exercise its regulatory power extraterritorially, particularly in the …

Law And Order In Cyberspace: A Case Study Of Cyberspace Governance In Hong Kong, 23 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 249 (2005), Kam C. Wong, Georgiana Wong

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Hong Kong, an international finance center, has been enjoying great benefits generated by computer-mediated communication ("CMC") in the new Information Age. On the other hand with the rapid and advanced development in technology, Hong Kong's economy is increasingly and irreversibly relying, and made dependent upon CMC and the Internet to operate, because the Internet has become a catalyst of reform and development in other arenas including social, cultural, and public policy. The Information Age raises new criminality concerns as it aggregates traditional criminal problems since great amounts of data are transmitted by and stored on computers is beyond imagination and …

The Convention On Cybercrime: A Harmonized Implementation Of International Penal Law: What Prospects For Procedural Due Process?, 23 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 329 (2005), Miriam F. Miquelon-Weismann

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The CoE Convention on cybercrime provides a treaty-based framework that imposes on the participating nations the obligation to enact legislation criminalizing certain conduct related to computer systems, create investigative procedures and ensure their availability to domestic law enforcement authorities to investigate cybercrime offenses, including procedures to obtain electronic evidence in all of its forms and create a regime of broad international cooperation, including assistance in extradition of fugitives sought for crimes identified under the CoE Convention. Since there is no internationally recognized legal definition of computer crime, this article briefly presents the generally recognized categories of cybercrime and then proceeds …

Pennsylvania And Pornography: Cdt V. Pappert Offers A New Approach To Criminal Liability, 23 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 411 (2005), John Spence

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The rapid expansion of information technology in the past few years has left states and the Federal government struggling desperately to keep up and many of the laws attempting to regulate the Internet and information technology show a lack of understanding how the affected technology actually works and could possibly the growth and distribution of new ideas and inventions even incapacitate the Internet. One area in particular that has been the subject of widespread concern and attention is online pornography, a business that few people only realize just how big it truly is. This article focuses on the recent District …

Distributed Security: Preventing Cybercrime, 23 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 659 (2005), Susan W. Brenner, Leo L. Clarke

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

This article focuses on the modern development of cybercrime and how the current law enforcement model is inadequate to prevent and enforce computer-mediated crime. Specifically the article argues that the nation-states can better control the problem of cybercrime by replacing the current law enforcement model with that of a system of “distributed” security that uses criminal sanctions to employ reasonable measures to prevent and the perpetration of cybercrime. The article begins by defining the terms “law enforcement”, “crime”, and “cybercrime” and then moves on to discuss how the current model of law enforcement, as it stands today, is inept to …

First Amendment Implications For E-Mail Threats: Are There Any Free Speech Protections?, 23 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 845 (2005), Joshua Azriel

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

In this article, Azriel explores how the First Amendment protects or does not provide protections to threatening e-mail communications. The article begins by examining seminal U.S. Supreme Court cases that dealt with threatening speech. The factors that provide the First Amendment protections are described, as well as the particular facts of each case and the Court’s findings. Azriel then looks at the Federal Threat Law and the factors that are enunciated in that legislation with regard to the protections afforded threatening communications, in addition to federal court cases that have interpreted the statute. The article then looks at several cases …

Copyright & Privacy - Through The Technology Lens, 4 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 242 (2005), Michael A. Geist, Doris E. Long, Leslie Ann Reis, David E. Sorkin, Fred Von Lohmann

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

How is new technology impacting on the more general question of privacy in cyberspace? Is the original notion of an expectation of anonymity on the internet still viable? Can technology pierce through the expectation of privacy even without judicial interference? Do individuals need protection from such technology? Is there technology available to protect the individual? Should these technological tools be regulated? Should the law differentiate between various types of alleged “illegal” behavior; e.g., IP infringement, defamation, possession of pornography and terrorism? Are there international standards that can assist in regulating the intersection between technology and privacy in cyberspace?

Copyright & Privacy - Through The Privacy Lens, 4 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 273 (2005), Julie E. Cohen, David E. Sorkin, Peter P. Swire

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

What legal tools do privacy advocates have available to defend an individual’s right to privacy? How far does this right go? How should these rights be defended—or if necessary—curtailed? What is the role of Government, of the practicing bar and of academics?

Copyright & Privacy - Through The Political Lens, 4 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 306 (2005), William W. Fisher Iii, Hugh C. Hansen, Christopher Jay Hoofnagle, Howard P. Knopf, Declan Mccullagh, Ralph Oman, Matthew J. Oppenheim

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Veteran beltway players discuss the politics of P2P technology and Privacy. How far can or should Congress go? Can the United States export its values or its laws in this area? Are content owners in a losing Luddite struggle? What is the role of litigators, lobbyists and legislators in this war?

Regulating Minors' Access To Pornography Via The Internet: What Options Do Congress Have Left?, 23 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 453 (2005), Jacob A. Sosnay

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

As with most innovations that have world-altering capabilities, the Internet is not without its very own dark side. This Internet's ugly side represented by are the thousands of Web sites devoted to the procurement and dissemination of pornographic material. Although, undoubtedly, in a free society, people are entitled to have access to such material if they so desire it is also generally accepted there is not only a great need, but an uncompromisable duty to protect minors from, and prevent access to, this potentially harmful imagery. This Comment discusses the several recent attempts made by Congress to regulate the accessibility …

No Place To Hide, 24 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 35 (2005), Robert J. O'Harrow Jr.

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Robert O’Harrow, Jr., a reporter on the financial and investigative team of the Washington Post, recipient of the 2003 Carnegie Melon and Cyber Security Reporting Award, and Pulitzer Prize finalist, lectures on topics from his recent book, No Place to Hide. He discusses how data mining began as a way for marketing companies to gain information about consumers and, as technology evolved, developed into a way for the government to monitor its citizens. O’Harrow contends that since the government is using private companies to collect this data, it skirts regulation and accountability for privacy infringements. After discussing the problems concerning …

Voice Over Internet Protocol And The Wiretap Act: Is Your Conversation Protected?, Daniel B. Garrie, Matthew J. Armstrong, Donald P. Harris

Seattle University Law Review

10101101: Is this sequence of digits voice or data? To a computer, voice is a sequence of digits and data is a sequence of digits. The law has defined 10101101 to be data, and 10101001 to be voice communications. Courts have constructed a distinction between data, 10101101, and voice, 10101001. However, that distinction is blurred when voice and data are simultaneously transmitted through the same medium. The courts forbid third parties to tap or monitor voice communications, yet permit data packets to be tracked, stored, and sold by third parties with the implied consent of either party engaged in the …