Computer Law Commons^™

Rankings, Reductionism, And Responsibility , Frank Pasquale

Frank A. Pasquale

After discussing how search engines operate in Part I below, and setting forth a normative basis for regulation of their results in Part II, this piece proposes (in Part III) some minor, non-intrusive legal remedies for those who claim that they are harmed by search engine results. Such harms include unwanted high-ranking results relating to them, or exclusion from a page they claim it is their “due” to appear on. In the first case (deemed “inclusion harm”), I propose a right not to suppress the results, but merely to add an asterisk to the hyperlink directing web users to them, …

Finding Privacy In A Sea Of Social Media And Other E-Discovery, Allyson Haynes Stuart

Allyson Haynes Stuart

This article looks at the case law governing discovery of social media, and finds several problems. First, many courts are improperly requiring a threshold showing that relevant information exists in public portions of the user’s social media account before allowing such discovery. Second, they allow overbroad discovery, often requiring a litigant to turn over its username and password to the other party. At the same time, parties are seeking such information directly from social media sites, attempting an end-run around the relevancy requirement and increasing motion practice. The article argues that, instead, social media discovery should be treated like other …

Migración A La Nube: ¿Está Segura Nuestra Información?, Rodolfo C. Rivas Rea Esq., Marco A. Vargas Iñiguez Esq.

Rodolfo C. Rivas

The authors discuss the benefits and risks of moving your business data to the cloud through case studies and offer practical tips to protect business confidential information stored in the cloud. //////////////////////// Los autores estudian los beneficios y los riesgos de almacenar datos e información en la nube a través de casos de estudio y ofrecen consejos prácticos para proteger la información comercial confidencial almacenada en la nube.

Emerging Technologies And Dwindling Speech, Jorge R. Roig

Jorge R Roig

Sealand, Havenco, And The Rule Of Law, James Grimmelmann

James Grimmelmann

In 2000, a group of American entrepreneurs moved to a former World War II anti-aircraft platform in the North Sea, seven miles off the British coast, and launched HavenCo, one of the strangest start-ups in Internet history. A former pirate radio broadcaster, Roy Bates, had occupied the platform in the 1960s, moved his family aboard, and declared it to be the sovereign Principality of Sealand. HavenCo's founders were opposed to governmental censorship and control of the Internet; by putting computer servers on Sealand, they planned to create a "data haven" for unpopular speech, safely beyond the reach of any other …

Decoding First Amendment Coverage Of Computer Source Code In The Age Of Youtube, Facebook And The Arab Spring, Jorge R. Roig

Jorge R Roig

Dr. Generative Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Iphone, James Grimmelmann, Paul Ohm

James Grimmelmann

In The Future of the Internet--And How to Stop It, Jonathan Zittrain argues that the Internet has succeeded because it is uniquely "generative": individuals can use it in ways its creators never imagined. This Book Review uses the Apple II and the iPhone--the hero and the villain of the story as Zittrain tells it--to show both the strengths and the weaknesses of his argument. Descriptively and normatively, Zittrain has nailed it. Generativity elegantly combines prior theories into a succinct explanation of the technical characteristics that make the Internet what it is, and the book offers a strong argument that preserving …

The Blogosphere And The New Pamphleteers, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

The future of the free dissemination of information lies in the blog, some may say. The internet has entirely transformed how we receive and consume information. It’s the newest incarnation of information dissemination. From the insights of Alexis de Tocqueville, “Feelings and opinions are recruited, the heart is enlarged, and the human mind is developed only by the reciprocal influence of men upon one another.” Bloggers are a powerful force in the distribution of information and ideas and the creation of communities of conversation. Throughout history, the dissemination of information, news, opinions, and ideas has continuously transformed. In the 18th …

Suing The Insecure?: A Duty Of Care In Cyberspace, Stephen E. Henderson, Matthew E. Yarbrough

Stephen E Henderson

The Internet, already of major significance throughout much of the globe, is expected to become increasingly pervasive in diverse arenas, from health care, to commerce, to entertainment, and is expected to become increasingly critical to essential infrastructures, including banking, power, and telecommunications. Yet the medium is both inherently and unnecessarily insecure. In particular, today’s Internet can be crippled by distributed denial-of-service attacks launched by relatively unsophisticated and judgment-proof parties. Not every computing system involved in such attacks, however, is necessarily without resources. Application of traditional negligence liability, coupled with other government incentives and support institutions, will encourage better security and …

Internet: Taxar Ou Não Taxar?, Ivo T. Gico

Ivo Teixeira Gico Jr.

O artigo demonstra a opinião do autor acerca de manifestações sobre tributação da internet, sustentando o potencial nocivo à democratização da informação. The article demonstrates the author's opinion about taxing the Internet and its potential harm to the democratization of information.