Digital Commons Network^™

The Battle Against Geo-Blocking: The Consumer Strikes Back, Sabrina Earle

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

The first part of this article will focus on the background of copyright law and its expansion in the digital age. The development of copyright law in the United States will be discussed along with a focus on current case law that has applied copyright law to the Internet and advancing technologies. Part I will also look into the expansion of copyright protection to an international level, including the creation of WIPO and the WIPO Copyright Treaty. Finally, Part I will discuss the popular trend of how consumers use the Internet to access digital copyrightable material. The second part of …

A Critical Look At The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, David M. Quinn

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

On October 23, 2007, the United States announced an initiative to strengthen intellectual property enforcement measures within the international community via the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (“ACTA”). During the following years, eleven rounds of negotiations among as many parties culminated in a finalized text released on December 3, 2010. The dialogue occurred outside the purview of existing bodies such as the WIPO and WTO. The ACTA now awaits acceptance following the March 31, 2011 commencement of the ratification period. It will enter into force thirty days following the sixth formal approval.

Of Oceans, Islands, And Inland Water – How Much Room For Exceptions And Limitations Under The Three-Step Test?, Annette Kur

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Dreadful Policing: Are The Semiconductor Industry Giants Content With Yesterday’S International Protection For Integrated Circuits?, Michael Fuerch

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Over the past twenty years, the semiconductor industry has grown rapidly. Technological advances have resulted in smaller, faster, and more cost-efficient semiconductor integrated circuits. Today, integrated circuits (“chips”) are found in the majority of electronic devices includes consumer electronics like computers, phones, televisions, and automobiles, and industrial electronics such as motor drives and programmable logic controllers.

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Through The Looking Hole Of The Multi-Sensory Trademark Rainbow: Trademark Protection Of Color Per Se Across Jurisdictions: The United States, Spain, And The European Union, Glenda Labadie-Jackson

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

An oft-asserted prediction states that only trademarks that stimulate all five senses with the objective of attracting the consumer’s attention will acquire a firm and durable presence in today’s complex marketplaces. This, in turn, has provoked the broadening of the repertoire of signs and symbols potentially eligible to serve as trademarks for products or services. Vivid examples of these are the sounds, scents, flavors, colors and three-dimensional forms, which collectively, are grouped under the generic category of “non-traditional trademarks.

The New Chinese Dynasty: How The United States And International Intellectual Property Laws Are Failing To Protect Consumers And Investors From Counterfeiting, Anna-Liisa Jacobsen

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

As businesses expanded with the rise of globalization, so did the effects of anticompetitive activity and, in turn, the reach of the U.S. antitrust laws. Though Congress addressed the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the U.S. antitrust laws with its implementation of the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvement Act (“FTAIA”), the statute only created a three-way circuit split that led the Supreme Court to address the issue and determine that the foreign injury must arise from both foreign anticompetitive activity and the activity’s adverse effects on domestic commerce. The D.C. Circuit further clarified the issue on remand by requiring a proximate cause relationship …

The “First-To-File” Patent System: Why Adoption Is Not An Option!, Rebecca C.E. Mcfadyen

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

As the United States’ national pastime, baseball has taught valuable lessons to generations of Americans. For example, players often learn how to be good teammates, how to set goals, and how to exercise discipline. Baseball has other important life lessons to share as well such as the value of “chemistry.” Chemistry is that intangible quality that allows individual players, each with a differing skill set and personal agenda, to work together and propel the team forward. It is what makes a team, a team.

Problems With Sharing The Pirates’ Booty: An Analysis Of Trips, The Copyright Divide Between The United States And China & Two Potential Solutions, Manesh Jiten Shah

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

The Domination Of The English Language In The Global Village: Efforts To Further Develop The Internet By Populating It With Non-Latin-Based Languages, Molly Torsen

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

At the top of the homepage of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a choice of nine different languages in which to read information about the organization; four of them are languages written in non-Latin script (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Russian). Clicking upon any of the language options brings the reader to a new website in that language and, presuming the reader has a computer and screen that can handle non-Latin script, the webpage reads legibly and clearly. The Uniform Resource Locator (URL), however, still reads in Latin script despite the webpage’s content being in a …

Using Adr To Resolve Online Disputes, Aashit Shah

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

In the context of the Internet, where parties located in different corners of the world can contract with each other at the click of a mouse, litigation of online disputes is often inconvenient, impractical, time-consuming and prohibitive. Providing an alternative approach to resolve online disputes might assist in redressing grievances and gaining consumer confidence in e-commerce. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is an appurtenant candidate for such an approach. The Virtual Magistrate Project, launched in 1996, initiated the idea of using ADR to resolve Internet-related disputes. The joint statement promoting the use of ADR in cyberspace, made by the European Union …

International Protection Of The United States Trademarks: A Survey Of Major International Treaties, E. Brooke Brinkerhoff

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

Globalization of the world has forced the evolution of international norms. Never before has the world been able to communicate so quickly across borders. Instantaneous global communication-the ability to send and receive not just e-mail messages, but documents, videos, and software-enables this instant communication.

The Developing Legal Infrastructure And The Globalization Of Information: Constructing A Framework For Critical Choices In The New Millennium Internet -- Character, Content And Confusion, Tomas A. Lipinski

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

This paper reviews recent attempts to extend traditional property rights and other information controls and regulations into new media, such as cyberspace, primarily the World Wide Web. It reviews developments in copyright, trademark, trademark dilution, misappropriation, trespass, censorship, tort, privacy and other legal doctrines as they are reflected in recent United States case law and legislation, and to a lesser extent, in international agreements. Legal problems often arise because there is a conflict of viewpoints in how to best characterize space on the Internet, specifically the World Wide Web. Some argue that traditional ownership rights should apply, or perhaps a …

The Development Of Arbitration In The Resolution Of Internet Domain Name Disputes, Christopher S. Lee

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Web surfers who use the AltaVista Internet search engine may not realize that in 1998, Compaq Computer Corporation paid $3.3 million for the rights to the domain name AltaVista.com. A year later, eCompanies paid $7.5 million for the domain name business.com. And in February of 2000, Bank of America paid $3 million for the domain name loans.com. These transactions demonstrate that the ownership, transfer, and control of Internet domain names is a multi-million dollar industry.

Musical Works Performance And The Internet: A Discordance Of Old And New Copyright Rules, Stephanie Haun

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

I feel strongly that the great fundamentals should be discussed more in all public meetings, and also in meetings of schools and colleges. Not only the students[,] but also the faculty should get down to more thinking and action about the great problems[,] which concern all countries and all peoples in the world today, and not let the politicians do it all and have the whole say. I have often been told that it is not the function of music (or a concert) to concern itself with matters like these. But I do not[,] by any means agree. I think …