Law Commons^™

Social Networking: A Conceptual Analysis Of A Data Controller, Rebecca Wong

Dr Rebecca Wong

This article updates a working party looking at the definition of a "data controller" under the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC within the context of a social networking environment. In brief, the article considers twhether the phenomenom of social networking (through Facebook (FB), MySpace and Bebo) has produced unintended consequences in the interpretation and application of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC to the online environment. The Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC defines a "data controller" broadly to refer to the 'natural or legal person, public authority, agency or any other body which alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means …

Ip Policy Void In The 'Grand Climate Bargain', Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

In September, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd emphasized the need for national and global action on climate change and called for “a grand bargain” between “the developed world and the developing world in order to reach an outcome for the planet earth as a whole”.No doubt, action on climate change will need new technology, which most likely will be predominately developed in a few, innovative countries. It is also clear, however, that if this ‘grand bargain’ is to be more than a wistful hope we need appropriate intellectual property rights in place for these new technological developments.The chairs of the Ad …

Media Futures: A Review Essay On 'The Future Of Reputation', 'Tv Futures', And 'The Future Of The Internet And How To Stop It', Prometheus, Vol. 27 (3), P. 267-279., Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

This review essay considers three recent books, which have explored the legal dimensions of new media. In contrast to the unbridled exuberance of Time Magazine, this series of legal works displays an anxious trepidation about the legal ramifications associated with the rise of social networking services. In his tour de force, The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet, Daniel Solove considers the implications of social networking services, such as Facebook and YouTube, for the legal protection of reputation under privacy law and defamation law. Andrew Kenyon’s edited collection, TV Futures: Digital Television Policy in Australia, explores …

A Submission On The Hawke Interim Report On The Environment Protection And Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), Sarah Holcombe, Matthew Rimmer, Terri Janke

Matthew Rimmer

There are currently no regulatory mechanisms, laws or policies that specifically provide rights to Indigenous peoples over their Indigenous knowledge and intellectual property. We strongly recommend that the commonwealth take the lead to ensure that national sui generis laws are developed (perhaps to operate initially in areas of Cth jurisdiction, such as IPAs and national parks). The development of such laws should be in tandem with practical guidelines to assist their implementation. A comprehensive, nationally consistent scheme for access to genetic resources, which offers meaningful protection of traditional knowledge and substantive benefit-sharing with Indigenous communities, has to be developed. There …

Wikipedia, Collective Authorship, And The Politics Of Knowledge, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

This chapter considers the legal ramifications of Wikipedia, and other online media, such as the Encyclopedia of Life. Nathaniel Tkacz (2007) has observed: 'Wikipedia is an ideal entry-point from which to approach the shifting character of knowledge in contemporary society.' He observes: 'Scholarship on Wikipedia from computer science, history, philosophy, pedagogy and media studies has moved beyond speculation regarding its considerable potential, to the task of interpreting - and potentially intervening in - the significance of Wikipedia's impact' (Tkacz 2007). After an introduction, Part II considers the evolution and development of Wikipedia, and the legal troubles that have attended it. …

A Submission To The House Standing Committee On Procedure Inquiry Into The Effectiveness Of House Committees, Simon Rice, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission to your inquiry into the effectiveness of the House Committees. Our Parliamentary committees have six basic roles: to advise, to inquire, to administrate, to legislate, to negotiate, and to scrutinise and control’. After a slow start in Australia, committees have become increasingly important to democratic governance in Australia.

The committees’ effective performance of their tasks are vital to a healthy Australian democracy. It is our experience, as frequent participants in parliamentary committee inquiries, that the committees are not sufficiently resourced, in time and personnel, to effectively discharge their increasingly important role.

…And Net Neutrality For All: An Advisement Against Regulated Broadband Expansion, Nicholas R. Brown

Nicholas R Brown

Ever since the now YouTube famous Google interview of then Senator Barack Obama promoting broadband Internet deployment nation wide, broadband deployment as part of Obama’s overarching $825 billion stimulus package has been a ready topic of conversation in technology circles. Broadband penetration in the United States is only 25.67% of all Internet connectivity or available to roughly 71 million Americans, ranking the U.S. 19th in the world. Home connections via broadband have risen to 92.4%, creating the argument that the majority of Internet users are engaged in daily activities that require, or at least benefit from, broadband connectivity. Obama has …

Cuarto Congreso Nacional De Organismos Públicos Autónomos, Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

Memorias del Cuarto Congreso Nacional de Organismos Públicos Autónomos

"El papel de los Organismos Públicos Autónomos en la Consolidación de la Democracia"

Invoking And Avoiding The First Amendment: How Internet Service Providers Leverage Their Status As Both Content Creators And Neutral Conduits, Rob M. Frieden

Rob Frieden

Much of the policy debate and scholarly literature on network neutrality has addressed whether the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has statutory authority to require Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) to operate in a nondiscriminatory manner. Such analysis largely focuses on questions about jurisdiction, the scope of lawful regulation, and the balance of power between stakeholders, generally adverse to government oversight, and government agencies, apparently willing to overcome the same inclination. The public policy debate primarily considers micro-level issues, without much consideration of broader concerns such as First Amendment values. While professing to support marketplace resource allocation and a regulation-free Internet, the …

Fiber Optic Foxes: Virtual Objects And Virtual Worlds Through The Lens Of Pierson V. Post And The Law Of Capture, John W. Nelson

John W. Nelson

Virtual worlds are more successfully blurring the lines between real and virtual. This tempts many to try and equate virtual property with tangible property. Such an equation creates problems when the common law of property is applied to virtual objects over which users can not possess complete dominion and control. The result is a conversion of the tangible resources that support virtual worlds into a virtual commons. Accordingly, the common law of contracts, rather than that of property, should be used to govern transactions between a user and owner of a virtual world.

Cyberwarfare And The Use Of Force Giving Rise To The Right Of Self-Defense, Matthew Hoisington

Matthew Hoisington

Cyberwarfare represents a novel weapon that has the potential to alter the way state and non-state actors conduct modern war. The unique nature of the threat and the ability for cyberwar practioners to inflict injury, death, and physical destruction via cyberspace strains traditional definitions of the use of force. In order to clearly delineate the rights of the parties involved, including the right to self-defense, the international community must come to some consensus on the meaning of cyberwarfare within the existing jus ad bellum paradigm. After examining the shortcomings inherent in classifying cyberattacks according to classical notions of kinetic warfare, …

Legal Framework Regulating Internet Obscenity: An Indian Perspective, Dharmendra Chatur

Dharmendra Chatur

No abstract provided.

A Submission To The Senate Community Affairs Committee Inquiry Into Gene Patents, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

I am a senior lecturer and the associate director for research at the Australian National University College of Law based in Canberra, Australia. I am also an associate director of the Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture (ACIPA). I have a BA (Hons) and a University Medal in literature, and a LLB (Hons) from the Australian National University, and a PhD in law from the University of New South Wales. I am a member of the Copyright and Intellectual Property Advisory Group of the Australian Library and Information Association, and a director of the Australian Digital Alliance. I am …

The Reclassification Of Extreme Pornographic Images, Andrew D. Murray

Professor Andrew D Murray

Legal controls over the importation and supply of pornographic imagery promulgated nearly half a century ago in the Obscene Publications Acts have proven to be inadequate to deal with the challenge of the internet age. With pornographic imagery more readily accessible in the UK than at any time in our history, legislators have been faced with the challenge of stemming the tide. One particular problem has been the ready accessibility of extreme images which mix sex and violence or which portray necrophilia or bestiality. This article examines the Government’s attempt to control the availability of such material through s.63 of …

Thomas Hardy’S Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Mubashshir Sarshar

Mubashshir Sarshar

No abstract provided.

Rights Of Arrested Person- Case Analysis, Mubashshir Sarshar

Mubashshir Sarshar

No abstract provided.

Violation Of Right To Way, Right To Access Of Light And Right To Access Of Air And Other Easementary Rights, Mubashshir Sarshar

Mubashshir Sarshar

No abstract provided.

Comparative Study Of The Prinicples Of Contract Formation Of India, China, Usa And France, Mubashshir Sarshar

Mubashshir Sarshar

No abstract provided.

Non Resumption Of Cohabatation As A Fault Ground Of Divorce Under The Hindu Marriage Act, Mubashshir Sarshar

Mubashshir Sarshar

No abstract provided.

Looking For Fair Use In The Dmca's Safety Dance, Ira Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

Like a ballet, the notice-and-take-down provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") provide complex procedures to obtain take-downs of online infringement. Copyright owners send notices of infringement to service providers, who in turn remove claimed infringement in exchange for a statutory safe harbor from copyright liability. But like a dance meant for two, the DMCA is less effective in protecting the "third wheel," the users of internet services. Even Senator John McCain - who in 1998 voted for the DMCA - wrote in exasperation to YouTube after some of his presidential campaign videos were removed due to take-downs. McCain …

Rethinking Anticircumvention's Interoperability Policy, Aaron K. Perzanowski

Aaron K. Perzanowski

Interoperability is widely touted for its ability to spur incremental innovation, increase competition and consumer choice, and decrease barriers to accessibility. In light of these attributes, intellectual property law generally permits follow-on innovators to create products that interoperate with existing systems, even without permission. The anticircumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) represent a troubling departure from this policy, resulting in patent-like rights to exclude technologies that interoperate with protected platforms. Although the DMCA contains internal safeguards to preserve interoperability, judicial misinterpretation and a narrow textual focus on software-to-software interoperability render those safeguards largely ineffective. Subjecting restrictions on …

Live Performance, Copyright, And The Future Of The Music Business, Mark F. Schultz

Mark F Schultz

This article considers whether the emergence of business models based on free digital delivery of music and other content have rendered copyright protection less necessary or justifiable. Falling production and distribution costs have led many scholars and popular commentators to conclude that creators can and should embrace free distribution models for copyrighted works. In particular, many contend that the recording industry can survive and prosper by producing and freely distributing recordings as a form of advertising for the concert business. Some have further concluded that copyright law may need to change to reflect this new reality.

This article assesses such …

Ip Addresses And Personal Data: K.U. V Finland, Karen Mccullagh

Karen McCullagh

Classifying IP addresses as personal data could have serious implications for search engines and many other electronic businesses, in particular, the personalised advertising business model of the Internet. Recent court decisions have not clarified the position, so businesses that log IP addresses should proceed with caution.

The Failure Of Adversary Process In The Administrative State, Bryan T. Camp

Bryan T Camp

In a series of hearings in 1997 and 1998, Congress heard allegations that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS” or “Service”) was abusing taxpayers during the process of collecting taxes. The resulting distrust of the tax bureaucracy led Congress to create a special adversary proceeding providing for judicial review of IRS collection decisions. The proceeding is beguilingly titled “Collection Due Process” (and commonly referred to as “CDP”). My study of CDP’s structure, operation, and of 976 court decisions issued through the end of 2006 demonstrates that it has failed to fulfill its promise. Of the over 15 million collection decisions made …

Diabolical Frivolity Of Neoliberal Fundamentalism, Sefik Tatlic

Sefik Tatlic

Today, we cannot talk just about plain control, but we must talk about the nature of the interaction of the one who is being controlled and the one who controls, an interaction where the one that is “controlled” is asking for more control over himself/herself while expecting to be compensated by a surplus of freedom to satisfy trivial needs and wishes. Such a liberty for the fulfillment of trivial needs is being declared as freedom. But this implies as well the freedom to choose not to be engaged in any kind of socially sensible or politically articulated struggle.