Law Commons^™

The Court Logs On, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a landmark decision soon on the ability of government to slow down X-rated traffic on the information superhighway. At issue in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, No. 96-511, argued March 19, is the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. § 223, a major effort by Congress to restrict minors' access to the pornography that is readily available on the Internet. Legal experts say the decision could set an important benchmark for future rulings affecting the electronic communications network that may reach some 200 million users before the …

Taxing Electronic Commerce: Preliminary Thoughts On Model Uniform Legislation, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

This report on Taxing Electronic Commerce was presented at the symposium on multi-jurisdictional taxation of electronic commerce at Harvard University on April 5, 1997. This report describes the normative principles shared by most serious analyses of the problems raised by state taxation of electronic commerce. It then attempts to translate these principles into legal rules that could provide a model for uniform legislation in this area. Finally it addresses constitutional questions that will likely be encountered in any effort to implement such legislation.

Computer Ram 'Copies:' Hit Or Myth? Historical Perspectives On Caching As A Microcosm Of Current Copyright Concerns, I. Trotter Hardy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

State Taxation Of Electronic Commerce, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

The coming of the information age has profound implications for state taxation as it does for just about everything else. The exponential growth and increasing commercialization of the Internet, along with the sweeping technological and regulatory changes that have reconfigured the telecommunications industry, pose a daunting challenge to the states’ traditional approaches to taxing business activity and the telecommunications system that facilitates it. State tax administrators and policymakers, alarmed at the prospect that their tax bases will disappear into cyberspace, are seeking means to accommodate their taxing regimes to the new technological environment. The business community, on the other hand, …

Taxation Of Telecommunications And Electronic Commerce, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Cyberspace Self-Government: Town-Hall Democracy Or Rediscovered Royalism?, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Is The Environmental Movement A Critical Internet Technology?, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Internet Entrepreneurs, New Traffic Patterns, And Policy Issues, Michael S. Baram, Marv Goldschmitt, Richard J. Testa, Thomas C. Siekman

Faculty Scholarship

Welcome to the first session of the Internet Law Symposium co-sponsored by the Center for Law and Technology² at Boston University School of Law and the law firm of Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault.³ This session will focus on a variety of Internet 4 law and public policy issues and their implications for business.

Law And Order In Cyberspace, Nick Allard, David A. Kass

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Legal Aspects Of The Internet, Etienne Pichat

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis will explain the legal aspects of the Internet so that users who wish to protect their rights and avoid liability can log on with a better understanding of the rules of the game. This work will be divided into two chapters. The first chapter will focus on existing legal regulation of the Internet to advise users on which law is relevant, and how to solve problems of conflicts of laws in the cyberworld. It will answer the question of whether cyberspace is, or not, a "no laws land", and what kind of regulation would better fit the cyberworld. …

Children's Rights Vs. Adult Free Speech: Can They Be Reconciled, Loftus Becker

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

"And The Truth Shall Make You Free": Truth As A First Amendment Defense In Tortious Interference With Contract Cases, Robert L. Tucker

Akron Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail And The Telephone Consumer Protection Act Of 1991, 45 Buff. L. Rev. 1001 (1997), David E. Sorkin

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Legal Architecture Of Virtual Stores: World Wide Web Sites And The Uniform Commercial Code, Walter Effross

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

The Invisible Barbecue, Eben Moglen

Faculty Scholarship

Past legislation subsidizing the development of infrastructural technology has borne the mark of political corruption. The subject matter of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 falls within the same category of legislation that has fallen prey to this process in the past. In an effort to discern whether such forces are at work today, Professor Moglen undertakes a critical examination of the metaphors that pervade the current scholarly discourse on the subject of telecommunications law. Terms such as "Superhighway," "Broadcasting," and "Market for Eyeballs" reveal a great deal about the implicit assumptions at work behind the current scholarship and legislation, and …

Internet Jurisdictional Issues: Fundamental Fairness In A Virtual World, Karin M. Mika, Aaron J. Reber

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article explains Internet jurisdictional issues within the current framework that enables a state to assert in personam jurisdiction. This Article argues that existing jurisdictional tests are appropriate in determining the fairness of jurisdiction in cases involving the Internet, despite the vast outreach capacity of computers. This Article will first examine the development of law concerning in personam jurisdiction. Next, this Article will reflect on how courts have handled jurisdictional issues respecting other modes of communication, namely the mail and telephone. Third, this Article will argue that in traditional jurisdictional analysis, courts have placed primary emphasis on business contacts and …

Lex Informatica: The Formulation Of Information Policy Rules Through Technology , Joel R. Reidenberg

Faculty Scholarship

Historically, law and government regulation have established default rules for information policy, including constitutional rules on freedom of expression and statutory rights of ownership of information. This Article will show that for network environments and the Information Society, however, law and government regulation are not the only source of rule-making. Technological capabilities and system design choices impose rules on participants. The creation and implementation of information policy are embedded in network designs and standards as well as in system configurations. Even user preferences and technical choices create overarching, local default rules. This Article argues, in essence, that the set of …

Some Reflections On Copyright Management Systems And Laws Designed To Protect Them, Julie E. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Copyright management systems (CMS)—technologies that enable copyright owners to regulate reliably and charge automatically for access to digital works—are the wave of the very near future. The advent of digital networks, which make copying and distribution of digital content quick, easy, and undetectable, has provided the impetus for CMS research and development. CMS are premised on the concept of "trusted systems" or "secure digital envelopes" that protect copyrighted content and allow access and subsequent copying only to the extent authorized by the copyright owner. Software developers are testing prototype systems designed to detect, prevent, count, and levy precise charges for …

Cyberspace Sovereignty? – The Internet And The International System, Tim Wu

Faculty Scholarship

Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of the Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.

By linking with the Internet, we don't mean absolute freedom of information. I think there is a general understanding about this. If you go through customs, you have to show your passport. It's the same with management of information. There is no contradiction at all between the development of telecommunications …