Digital Commons Network^™

How A Changing Nation Is Fueling The Rise Of Trade Secret Litigation, David S. Almeling

David S. Almeling

Reports of pilfered trade secrets have grown increasingly common, and as recent studies demonstrate, trade secret litigation is on the rise. A 2010 study of the federal courts shows that trade secret litigation has grown exponentially while litigation in general has decreased. And a 2011 study of state courts shows that trade secret litigation is increasing at a faster rate than the rate of litigation in general. This essay asks: Why? Why is trade secret litigation more prevalent than ever? This essay posits — for the first time — explanations for the fact that trade secrets are increasingly important to …

“Mystic Infallibility” And “Fancy Devices”: A Conceptual Analysis Of The Application Of The Frye Test, John F. Johnson Iii

John F Johnson III

The Frye test stood as the first widely used test to determine the admissibility of scientific evidence and stood as the majority test until the Supreme Court introduced the Daubert test in 1993. Despite taking a backseat, seventeen jurisdictions, including California, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania, continue to apply the Frye test. The Frye test holds that a when a party provides novel scientific evidence, that party must demonstrate the proffered evidence relies on principles, methodologies, and devices that are generally accepted by the relevant scientific community. Commentators frequently discuss the test’s general acceptance requirement, but ignore the preliminary issue …

Copyright For Engineered Dna: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?, Christopher M. Holman

Christopher M Holman

The rapidly emerging field of synthetic biology has tremendous potential to address some of the most compelling challenges facing our planet, by providing clean renewable energy, nutritionally-enhanced and environmentally friendly agricultural products, and revolutionary new life-saving cures. However, leaders in the synthetic biology movement have voiced concern that biotechnology's current patent-centric approach to intellectual property is in many ways ill-suited to meet the challenge of synthetic biology, threatening to impede follow-on innovation and open access technology. For years, copyright and patent protection for computer software have existed side-by-side, the two forms of intellectual property complementing one another. Numerous academic commentators …

Neutrality And Diversity In The Internet Ecosystem, Andrea Renda

Andrea Renda

The public policy approach to the Internet has become more and more complex as several markets – including fixed and mobile communications, media and content, IT – converge into one single Internet ecosystem. As in all ecosystems, zones and domains depend on each other, and there is no possibility of touching one layer without affecting all others. This paper reflects on the economics of the Internet and emerging business models, and comments on the current debates in each of the layers of modern all-IP architectures, from the unbundling of network elements to net neutrality and the emerging discussion on search …

Off The Roads & Out Of The Courts: Enter A Technology Fix For Drunk Driving, Nora J. Pasman-Green

Nora J. Pasman-Green

More than 1.4 million people are arrested annually for drunk driving, a crime that results in over 10,000 fatalities, more than 225,000 non-fatal injuries, and economic costs exceeding $50 billion. Drunk driving has become a major public health problem. This article traces development of the technology – the alcohol ignition interlock – which prevents drunk drivers from operating their vehicles. Ongoing research is underway to equip new automobiles with alcohol detection devices as standard equipment. The article explores the possibility of eliminating drunk driving once all vehicles are manufactured with pre-market interlocks installed. The article examines the impact of current …

A Quantitative Assessment Of The Development Of Renewable Energy In Taiwan, 1980 To The Present: A Political-Economic Perspective, Kuang-Cheng Chen

Kuang-Cheng Chen

This article attempts to use quantitative analysis (regression analyses) to analyze renewable energy development in Taiwan from 1980 to the present using the political-economic perspective. This research found that the “Renewable Energy Supply” and the “Renewable Energy Supply/Total Energy Supply” were impacted by political factors (e.g., “Which party wins half of the seats for county magistrates and city mayors in a given year?”) between 1980 and 1999, but were influenced by economic factors (GDP (PPP) from 2000 to 2007. As regards the “Ratio of CO2 Emissions to the Population,” it was impacted by economic factors (GDP (PPP)) from 1980 to …

No Place To Hide: First Amendment Protection For Geolocation Privacy, Theodore F. Claypoole

Theodore F Claypoole

The article analyzes the conflict between established Constitutional rights and evaporating privacy, by exploring technological changes that threaten anonymity and examining the First Amendment rights to be anonymous in association and speech.

Transborder Licensing: New Frontier For Job Creation, Andrea L. Johnson

Andrea L Johnson

Abstract: TRANSBORDER LICENSING: NEW FRONTIER FOR JOB CREATION http://ssrn.com/abstract=1675285 (September, 11 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1675286 By Professor Andrea L. Johnson, alj@cwsl.edu California Western School of Law 225 Cedar St. San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 525-1474 This article makes the case that the best opportunities for creating new jobs in the United States will come from transborder licensing. Transborder licensing involves the creation and disposition of intellectual property (IP), such as copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, across geographical boundaries. Licensing is a contractual agreement in which the owner of IP, called the licensor, agrees to permit or restrict the …

Ending The Power To Say No: The Case For Extending Compulsory Licensing To Cover Digital Music Reproduction And Distribution Rights, Patrick A. Mckay

Patrick A McKay

This paper argues that the recording industry has abused its power to deny uses of copyrighted music and has failed to satisfy the constitutional purpose of copyright of providing for the public benefit. As a result, this power should be removed and replaced with a compulsory license system similar to the Section 115 Reform Act of 2006 (SIRA), which would create a blanket collective license covering digital reproduction and distribution rights for musical works. Additionally, in order to remove the cloud of uncertainty which surrounds music used in user-generated videos, Congress should consider extending the compulsory license regime to cover …

Legislative And Regulatory Strategies For Providing Consumer Safeguards In A Convergent Information And Communications Marketplace, Rob M. Frieden

Rob Frieden

Many ventures involved in information, communications and entertainment (“ICE”) industries have begun to expand their array of offered services. Technological convergence, digitization and the ability of the Internet to handle many different service types within a single bitstream make it possible for companies to offer “quadruple play” bundles of wireless and wireline telephony, video, and Internet access services. Financial and efficiency gains from vertical integration, and the search for new revenues to replace declining margins from maturing and newly competitive services, combine to create robust incentives for carriers to diversify. Diversification by ventures typically results in a single company providing …

Terrorism Online: Is Speech The Same As It Ever Was?, Steven R. Morrison

Steven R Morrison

Abstract to “Terrorism Online: Is Speech the Same as It Ever Was?” By Steven R. Morrison Like all of us, terrorists now use the Internet for many purposes. It is commonly believed that planning operations, fundraising, and recruitment are the three main ways that terrorists take advantage of online communication. While it is clear that speech related to the first two can be prohibited, online recruitment speech may be protected under the First Amendment. As a result, a number of commentators have been concerned at online recruitment and the fact that our current speech rules may not be adequate to …

An Economic Analysis Of Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

In recent years, patent law’s inequitable conduct doctrine has attracted considerable attention from judges, legislators, patent lawyers and commentators, culminating most recently in the Federal Circuit’s decision to reconsider en banc several aspects of the doctrine in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. Building on the work of other scholars, this Essay proposes an instrumental view of the doctrine as, ideally, a tool for inducing patent applicants to disclose the optimal quantity of information relating to the patentability of their inventions; it then presents a formal model of the applicant’s choices in deciding how much information to reveal. The …

The Law And Policy Of Online Privacy: Regulation, Self-Regulation Or Co-Regulation?, Dennis D. Hirsch

Dennis D Hirsch

The Internet poses grave new threats to information privacy. Search engines collect and store our search queries; Web sites track our online activity and then sell this information to others; and Internet Search Providers read the very packets of information through which we interact with the Internet. Yet the debate over how best to address this problem has ground to a halt, stuck between those who call for a vigorous legislative response and those who advocate for market solutions and self-regulation. In 1995, the European Union member states began to build a third approach into their data protection laws, one …

Global Patenting And Its Effect On The Optimal Patent Term In The United States, Wesley D. Markham

Wesley D Markham

Patent globalization has arrived. Procedurally, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) makes it easy for firms to seek patent protection in many countries around the world. Substantively, the TRIPS Agreement has upped the level of patent protection available in these countries. One critically important issue is how patent law in the United States should respond to the increased globalization of the patent system. Specifically, should we reduce the patent term in the United States to compensate for the enhanced potential for patent exclusivity outside the United States? In this article, I develop a new metric which I call the “global patent …

The Case For Liberal Spectrum Licenses: An Economic And Technical Analysis, Thomas W. Hazlett

Thomas W Hazlett

The traditional system of radio spectrum allocation has inefficiently restricted wireless services. Alternatively, liberal licenses ceding de facto spectrum ownership rights yield incentives for operators to maximize airwave value. These authorizations have been widely used for mobile services in the U.S. and internationally, leading to the development of highly productive services and waves of innovation in technology, applications and business models. Serious challenges to the efficacy of such a spectrum regime have arisen, however. Seeing the widespread adoption of such devices as cordless phones and wi-fi radios using bands set aside for unlicensed use, some scholars and policy makers posit …

Interpretation And The Internet, Cameron J. Hutchison

Cameron J Hutchison

Almost twenty years have passed since the advent of the internet. The revolutionary nature of the technology is no longer in doubt. It has transformed the way we communicate, recreate, carry on business and conduct our affairs. Despite the internet’s “differentness”, courts have proven adept at adapting extant law to the features and demands of this new technology. In this paper, I propose in some detail the manner in which courts should interpret law and (just as importantly) internet facts in connection with broadly stated legal rules. My basic argument is that courts must be appreciate both the totality of …

E-Elections: Time For Japan To Embrace Online Campaigning, Matthew J. Wilson

Matthew J. Wilson

Asia has embraced the Internet and social media. Japan and South Korea rank among the world’s leaders in technological innovation and Internet penetration. China boasts over 420 million Internet users, and other Asian countries have experienced the widespread acceptance of online technologies. With the rapid ascendency of the Internet and social media, however, Asian countries have sometimes struggled with striking the proper balance between individual rights and the legal regulation of online activities. One prime example of such struggle involves the clash between Japan’s election laws and individual political freedoms.

Although Japan generally subscribes to democratic traditions and the principle …

New Directions In Privacy, Mark Maccarthy

Mark MacCarthy

Several recent developments underscore a return of public concerns about access to personal information by businesses and its possible misuse. The Administration is conducting an extensive interagency review of commercial privacy, Congress is considering legislation on online behavioral advertising and in November an international conference of government officials will likely approve a global standard on privacy protection. But what’s the best way to protect privacy? David Vladeck, the new head of consumer protection for the Federal Trade Commission, has said he is dissatisfied with the existing policy frameworks for thinking about the issue. He’s right. The traditional framework of fair …

Information Security Policy In The U.S. Retail Payments Industry, Mark Maccarthy

Mark MacCarthy

The United States retail payments industry is in the middle of a transition in regards to information security. A substantial number of data breaches have occurred over the last five years, despite substantial compliance with the industry standard, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. There will need to be a move to a higher level of security, and the major challenge is institutional. How can the industry organize itself to move collectively toward this goal? Without recommending any particular technical solution, this paper proposes one way to do meet this institutional challenge. Drawing on the experience of Europe and …

Information Defects In The Age Of Information: When More Is Less, Edward C. Combs Jr.

Edward C Combs Jr.

Warning labels from product manufacturers serve both as a shield to the consumer from physical injury and as a safeguard to the manufacturer from civil liability. A question then arises whether these two distinct interests, that of the manufacturer and of the consumer, are equally protected by our current products liability jurisprudence. Another way to approach this question is by asking when is a product deemed “safe”? Is it determined by an assessment of the totality of injuries associated with its use or do we arrive at the premise that a product is “safe” when a court finds no liability …

How The Global Crime Syndicates Fuel Planet Destruction, Global Alliance

Global Alliance

since 1945 more environmental planet destruction has been fuelled and financed with ever more leveraged debt than in the previous 60 million years - it's applied terrorism against the global life support system under the protection racket of a corrupt law profession

A Model Of Legal Systems As Evolutionary Networks: Normative Complexity And Self-Organization Of Clusters Of Rules, Carlo Garbarino

Carlo Garbarino

The paper draws both on legal theory and network science to explain how legal systems are structured and evolve. The basic proposition is that legal systems have a structure identifiable through a model of them in terms of networks of rules, and that their evolution is a property of their network structure. The paper is based on a model of rules which relies on the tenets of the network theory to describe how legal change unfolds within the network structure of legal systems. Section 1 presents an outline of current literature on the application of network theory to legal systems. …

Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege In The Digital Age: War On Two Fronts?, Tom Spahn

Tom Spahn

Is the corporate attorney-client privilege under attack? Many attorneys and commentators contend not only that yes, it is, but also that this battle rages on two fronts. First, they argue that courts are engaging in a misguided erosion of the privilege when faced with expansive electronic discovery. And second, they insist that policies exercised by executive agencies are chilling compliance conversations within corporations by creating a coercive “culture of privilege waiver.”

2006 and 2007 represented landmark years for the corporate attorney-client privilege. In those years, the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana used methodology in In re Vioxx …

Using Cognitive Neuroscience As A Basis Upon Which To Accurately Predict The Future Dangerousness Of Violent Criminals And Thus Provide A Procedure For The Involuntary Commitment Of Such Individuals As A Part Of Or Following The Duration Of Their Sentence, Adam Lamparello

Adam Lamparello

No abstract provided.

Convergent Evolution In Law And Science: The Structure Of Decision-Making Under Uncertainty, Michael J. Saks

Michael J Saks

The formal structure of decision-making under uncertainty used in legal trials bears a remarkable similarity to the structure of decision-making under uncertainty used in hypothesis testing in empirical science. The first purpose of this article is to explicate those similarities. Secondarily, the article reviews the historical origins of these decision-making schemes in both law and science, finding that they evolved independently of each other to serve similar functions.

Energy Savings And Radon Mitigation With Heat Exchanger Ventilation System In Residential Buildings, Keramatollah Akbari

Keramatollah Akbari

Abstract Balanced ventilation with heat recovery has strongly effects on radon mitigation and energy saving in residential buildings.

While reducing radon by means of forced ventilation, it is necessary to increase outdoor supplied air, and this in turn raising energy use. Also through ventilation systems energy losses is inevitable by exhaust fan or another ways, but by heat recovery technology it is possible to recover most of this heat loss.

Heat recovery ventilation systems which recover exhaust air can reduce ventilation loss significantly and with balancing indoor air pressure play a good role on effectiveness of ventilation to reduce and …

Finishing The Climate Change Puzzle: A Proposal For The United States National Climate Change Law, Carolyn Aguilar

Carolyn Aguilar

An analysis of the 2009-2010 Congressional climate change bill proposals and its potential impacts on international environmental agreements and its impacts on subnational climate change laws. This article proposes a potential best solution for a new national climate change law.

Sexting: Risky Or [F]Risky? An Examination Of The Current And Future Legal Treatment Of Sexting In The United States, Krupa A. Shah

Krupa A. Shah

No abstract provided.

A Proposed National Healthcare Information Network Architecture And Complementary Preemption Of State Health Information Privacy Laws, Arlen W. Langvardt, John W. Hill

Arlen W Langvardt

(Abstract is included with text of paper.)

Machine-Or-Transformation Test Hit The Board: Patent-Eligible Subject Matter Following Bilski, Peter L. Ludwig

Peter L. Ludwig

In In re Bilski the Federal Circuit held that the machine-or-transformation test is the test to apply to determine subject matter eligibility of process claims under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The en banc majority opinion of the Federal Circuit introduced the machine-or-transformation test based upon Supreme Court precedent. The Supreme Court will soon hand down a ruling letting the public know if this is the test that will be applied to process claims. Although patent practitioners may have a test to apply, application of the test is far from certain.