Law Commons^™

Choosing Law In Cyberspace: Copyright Conflicts On Global Networks, Andreas P. Reindl

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article contends that in the digital era, the current system of national, territorially limited copyright laws requires a flexible copyright choice of law regime. To promote certainty and predictability in the choosing of the copyright law applicable to acts of exploitation, choice of law rules should use the location of a user as the principal factor to determine the applicable copyright law. In appropriate circumstances, the choice of law rules should allow the application of a multitude of national copyright laws to single acts of use on digital networks. This article also argues that a broad application of flexible …

Computer Media For The Legal Profession, Eugene Volokh

Michigan Law Review

A Review of communication media.

The Quest For Enabling Metaphors For Law And Lawyering In The Information Agae, Pamela Samuelson

Michigan Law Review

A Review of James Boyle, Shamans, Software, and Spleens: Law and the Construction of the Information Society and M. Ethan Katsh, Law in a Digital World

International Law And The Information Age, John K. Gamble

Michigan Journal of International Law

The subject of this article is problematic because of the paucity of other work addressing the topic and its amorphous and technical nature. The author shall argue that the information age will affect almost all aspects of how international law is made and studied, everything from theory to sources to research to teaching. Rather than limiting the article to one or two aspects of the changes brought by the information age, the author offers a tour d'horizon. This risks superficiality, but is consonant with the goal of stimulating discussion about issues that are important to the future of international …

Computer Bulletin Board Operator Liability For Users' Infringing Acts, M. David Dobbins

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that a computer bulletin board operator's liability for copyright infringement by users of the bulletin board should be analyzed under the theory of contributory copyright infringement. This Note calls for a standard of liability under contributory copyright infringement that accommodates the competing interests at stake in the resolution of this issue. Part I provides an overview of copyright infringement law and argues that in most situations the operator's actions, viewed independently, do not constitute copyright infringement. Part II explores theories of third-party liability. This Part rejects the doctrine of vicarious liability as an effective means for establishing …

Electronic Mail And Michigan's Public Disclosure Laws: The Argument For Public Access To Governmental Electronic Mail, Daniel F. Hunter

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note explores the potential for citizens to request electronic mail (e-mail) records from government agencies using public disclosure laws, with emphasis on the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). E-mail is a medium that has come to replace both telephone calls and paper documents for many purposes. The applicability of public disclosure laws to e-mail, however, is less than clear. Telephone conversations by public employees for most purposes are confidential, while paper records created by those same employees can be requested under the FOIA. Thus, should public e-mail remain private and confidential or should it be subject to FOIA …

Telecommunications In Transition: Unbundling, Reintegration, And Competition, David J. Teece

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The world economy is experiencing a technological revolution, fueled by rapid advances in microelectronics, optics, and computer science, that in the 1990s and beyond will dramatically change the way people everywhere communicate, learn, and access information and entertainment. This technological revolution has been underway for about a decade. The emergence of a fully-interactive communications network, sometimes referred to as the "Information Superhighway," is now upon us. This highway, made possible by fiber optics and the convergence of several different technologies, is capable of delivering a plethora of new interactive entertainment, informational, and instructional services that are powerful and user-friendly. The …

White House Electronic Mail And Federal Recordkeeping Law: Press "D" To Delect History, James D. Lewis

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that federal recordkeeping law should promote the preservation of history above all other concerns. First, courts should construe and apply the recordkeeping statutes with this goal in mind. Second, Congress should amend the recordkeeping statutes to correct enforcement deficiencies that leave irresponsible recordkeeping practices unchecked and risk the loss of a historical record of White House decisionmaking. Finally, executive officials should adopt guidelines that identify and preserve historically significant materials regardless of the medium in which they are captured.

Part I of this Note examines the statutes that currently regulate the management and public disclosure of White …

Legal Responses To Commercial Transactions Employing Novel Communications Media, John Robinson Thomas

Michigan Law Review

This Note analyzes contemporary business practices and specific characteristics of the new media, and suggests a judicial response consonant with courts' approaches to the earlier technologies of telegraphy and teletype. Part I examines the effect of the Statute of Frauds and rules of authentication upon contracts formed using these media. It concludes that documents produced by telefacsimile and electronic mail systems should be considered ordinary writings. Part II considers the Best Evidence Rule and argues that telefacsimiles and electronic mail transmissions should be considered the best evidence of the contract they memorialize. Part III evaluates doctrines of liability allocation in …

The Electronic Commonwealth: The Impact Of New Media Technologies On Democratic Politics, Gregory T. Everts

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Electronic Commonwealth: The Impact of New Media Technologies on Democratic Politics by Jeffrey B. Abramson, F. Christopher Arterton, and Gary R. Orren

Transborder Data Flows: Do We Mean Freedom Or Business?, Michael Bothe

Michigan Journal of International Law

The growth of the modem "information society" is a phenomenon transcending national borders, characterized by tremendous progress in both telecommunications and computer technology - a technology called collectively "telematics." Telematics have not only become the vital nervous system of our domestic economies and begun to play an increasing role in our private lifestyles, but have grown to link the nations of the world in constant, instantaneous, and complex ways. These communications and the data conveyed through them (whether their raw material is written text, tables, numbers, pictures, or voices), due to their importance, are in many respects a matter of …

Free Speech And High Tech, Francis Dummer Fisher

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Technologies of Freedom by Ithiel de Sola Pool and Teletext and Videotex in the United States: Market Potential, Technology, Public Policy Issues by John Tydeman, Hubert Lipinski, Richard P. Adler, Michael Nyhan and Laurence Zwimpfer.

Integrated Servies Digital Network: Issues And Options For The World's Future Communications Systems, A. M. Rutkowski

Michigan Journal of International Law

There has been virtually no public discussion of the significant public policy issues raised because of the intimidating nature of network engineering which forms the basis for nearly all the current dialogue. This paper discusses current ISDN developments, and sets forth an analytical framework within which these issues may be discussed.

The International Application Of The Second Computer Inquiry, Robert M. Frieden

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article chronicles the FCC's attempt to confront the confluence of telecommunications and data processing technologies by fashioning a regulatory scheme designed primarily for the United States. The Commission has chosen to apply this scheme, without significant qualification, internationally. Given the different objectives and structure of United States and foreign communications industries, the FCC's system cannot be transplanted abroad without prior consultation and substantial modification. After reviewing the international problems created by the Commission's application abroad of its newly developed scheme, this article concludes with recommendations for resolving these conflicts that currently threaten the well-being of carriers, customers, and international …