Law Commons^™

E-Pluribus Unum?: The Problem Of Anonymous Election-Related Communications On The Internet, Paul A. Werner, Iii

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Note discusses an aspect of this fundamental question in the context of one provision of the FECA. The FECA's identification requirement, section 441d, prohibits anonymous communications via mass media when any person makes an expenditure for the purpose of financing communications expressly advocating the election or defeat of clearly identified candidates. The mass media included are broadcast, print, direct mail, outdoor advertising facilities, and any other general public political advertising. Communications triggering this provision must contain clear information identifying who paid for and who authorized them. The statute delineates three possible required disclosures: (1) that the communication has been …

The Internationalization Of Intellectual Property: New Challenges From The Very Old And The Very New, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Intellectual property concepts embodied in international treaties and national laws date back to the eighteenth century. Many fundamental concepts (originality in copyright law; confusion in trademark law; novelty or inventiveness in patent law) vary from one country's national legislation to another. Yet, many critics of the intellectual property system recognize that solutions to the problems, ranging from database protection to the Internet, should ideally be the same worldwide. In today's globalized economy, it makes sense to adopt rules to protect that take account of the laws and practices of other nations and of the work of international organizations. Protecting only …

Chinese Business And The Internet: The Infrastructure For Trust, Timothy L. Fort, Liu Junhai

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Although the Internet and E-commerce revolutions have clearly taken hold in the United States and Europe, the Chinese culture has been slow to adopt the Internet as a marketplace. The Authors cite a lack of trust on the part of both potential consumers and potential merchants as the primary obstacle to a robust Chinese E-commerce community. To remedy this lack of trust, the Article proposes the nation seek a middle way between reforms guided by Western rule of law and Eastern rule of ethics, thus incorporating effective regulatory strategies and the philosophical resources already within the Chinese cultural consciousness. The …

The Eu Privacy Directive And The Resulting Safe Harbor, Angela Vitale

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The rapid growth of the Internet and the importance of international business operations have thrust the issue of Internet privacy into the center of domestic and international political debates. Varying definitions of privacy have led to numerous--often inconsistent--legislative schemes to protect privacy on the Internet. These inconsistencies have made it difficult for companies to penetrate foreign markets and to maintain international operations. Of primary concern to U.S. companies is the EU Privacy Directive. The Directive requires U.S. companies that attempt to interact with potential customers or their own employees in the European Union either to qualify for a "Safe Harbor" …

Transmissions Of Music On The Internet, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines the status of copyright laws in several countries as they pertain to transmissions of music on the Internet. Because the exact legal ramifications of music transmissions over the Internet are currently unclear, the Author compares copyright laws of six major markets and examines the potential application of the copyright laws and other rights that may apply. The Article also discusses rules concerning which transborder transmissions are likely to be covered by a country's national laws, as well as specific rules applying to the liability of intermediaries. Next, the Article summarizes the comparative findings and discusses the relevant …

Cyberjacking, Mouse Trapping, And The Ftc Act: Are Federal Consumer Protection Laws Helping Or Hurting Online Consumers?, Kenneth Sanney

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Only the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can bring a federal cause of action against a company whose business practices or actions deceive consumers. However, the FTC's power is limited; it can intervene on behalf of consumers only when there is a pattern of misconduct by the business that threatens the public interest. But where the scams themselves are difficult to spot, patterns may be virtually impossible to establish. Moreover, even successful FTC actions may yield little in the way of preventative or compensatory benefit for the individual user.

My aim in this Note, therefore, is to offer one possible means …

Irreconcilable Congressional Treatment Of Internet Service Providers As Speakers, Raymond Shih Ray Ku

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article argues that under the CDA and OCILLA, Congress adopted facially inconsistent approaches towards ISP liability for expression. Nonetheless, despite the overt differences, it is possible to discern an underlying principle for determining when ISPs should be considered speakers that reconciles this inconsistency. Put simply, the CDA and OCILLA support an approach toward determining when ISPs are speakers that focuses on whether an ISP exercises editorial control over its network. This approach is evidenced by the fact that both statutes recognize that ISPs are able to exercise editorial control over any and all content on their networks, and both …

Red Light, Green Light: Has China Achieved Its Goals Through The 2000 Internet Regulations?, Clara Liang

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the mid-1990s, when the Internet began to burgeon in China, many thought that the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would finally come to an end. The combination of foreign capital and trans-border information exchange promised a potential influx of democratic ideas and ideals. The CCP responded with both physical and regulatory limits on the use of the Internet by the Chinese people. Some commentators characterized these limits as feeble attempts by the CCP to control a nebulous medium. Others viewed the limits as ineffective steps by the government to become a highly developed authoritarian state.

This Note …

Transmissions Of Music On The Internet: An Analysis Of The Copyright Laws Of Canada, France, Germany, Japan, The United Kingdom, And The United States, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article examines the status of copyright laws in several countries as they pertain to transmissions of music on the Internet. Because the exact legal ramifications of music transmissions over the Internet are currently unclear, the Author compares copyright laws of six major markets and examines the potential application of the copyright laws and other rights that may apply. The Article also discusses rules concerning which transborder transmissions are likely to be covered by a country's national laws, as well as specific rules applying to the liability of intermediaries. Next, the Article summarizes the comparative findings and discusses the relevant …

Why Traditional Insurance Policies Are Not Enough: The Nature Of Potential E-Commerce Losses & Liabilities, Anna Lee

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

There are two general categories of insurance policies: first-party policies and third-party/liability policies. First-party polices provide benefits directly to policyholders for losses suffered by the policyholders. For example, fire damage to the policyholder's plant or financial loss resulting from the interruption of the policyholder's business would be covered under the first-party insurance. Generally, these first-party losses are covered under policies such as "all risk," "named peril," "business interruption," or "expense to reduce loss" coverages. Among these various types of first-party policies, "all risk" insurance policies provide the broadest coverages.

Third-party or liability policies provide protection for claims against the policyholder …

Changing Horses In Mid-Stream: The Copyright Office's New Rule Makes Broadcasters Pay For "Streaming" Their Signals Over The Internet, Samuel Fifer, Gregory R. Naron

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

With traditional, over-the-air broadcasts, radio stations do not have to start paying license fees to rights holders if they get a bigger transmitter or technology allows their signal to reach more listeners. That much, not even the RIAA will dispute. So why should it matter if stations use the Internet to reach additional listeners? The law shouldn't be interpreted to discourage radio stations from using new Internet technology to do the same thing they're doing now--especially since Congress itself expressly said it did not want to "[hamper] ... new technologies" or "impose new and unreasonable burdens" on broadcasters. And make …

Of Black Holes And Decentralized Law Making In Cyberspace, David G. Post

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

MAPS, the primary focus of this tale, is a California non-profit limited liability company. It coordinates a kind of group boycott by Internet service providers (ISPs) for the purpose of reducing the flow of what is commonly called "spam"- unsolicited bulk e-mail. It operates, roughly, as follows. The managers of MAPS create and maintain what they call the "Realtime Blackhole List" (RBL), which consists of a long list of Internet addresses. They place on the RBL any Internet address from which, to their knowledge, spam has originated. They also place on the RBL the address of any network that allows …

How To Can Spam, Gary Miller

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Receiving unsolicited commercial email, also known as "Spam," is like receiving junk mail, postage due. Spam shifts the cost of advertising from the advertiser to the consumer. This imposes enormous costs on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and their customers. The Spam problem cries out for a legislative solution, and that is why I introduced H.R. 2162, the "Can Spam Act." The source of the Spam moniker for unsolicited commercial e-mail is apparently attributed to an annoying song in a Monty Python skit. In the skit, actors dressed like Vikings sing the word "Spam" over and over again, becoming louder and …

The Wrong Tool For The Right Job: Are Commercial Websites Places Of Public Accommodation Under The Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990?, Patrick Maroney

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The text of the ADA does not support such an extension. The interpretative canons of "noscitur a sociis" and "ejusdem generis" dictate that "places of public accommodation" refer exclusively to physical facilities. The canons also sufficiently resolve any possible statutory ambiguities, thereby foreclosing the opportunity for contrary agency interpretations. Although the intentionally broad purpose and design of the ADA make the statute an attractive avenue for advocates of online expansion, that same purpose and design limit the ADA to physical facilities. This note addresses the issues in two parts. First, it presents the arguments just listed. Second, it recognizes the …

Privacy And Democracy In Cyberspace, Paul M. Schwartz

Vanderbilt Law Review

In this Article, Professor Schwartz depicts the widespread, silent collection of personal information in cyberspace. At present, it is impossible to know the fate of the personal data that one generates online. Professor Schwartz argues that this state of affairs degrades the health of a deliberative democracy; it cloaks in dark uncertainty the transmutation of Internet activity into personal information that will follow one into other areas and discourage civic participation. This situation also will have a negative impact on individual self- determination by deterring individuals from engaging in the necessary thinking out loud and deliberation with others upon which …

State Regulatory Jurisdiction And The Internet: Letting The Dormant Commerce Clause Lie, James E. Gaylord

Vanderbilt Law Review

Cyberspace seems to pose a dual threat to "Our Federalism." Only one aspect of this threat, however, has captured the scholarly imagination. Commentators have devoted a great deal of attention to the problems of horizontal federalism raised by the new technology. Cyberspace, they point out, is a profoundly integrative social and economic force. As a result, local legislation touching on cyberspace is likely to produce effects beyond local borders. State laws like a recently deceased Georgia statute that arguably would have prohibited all Internet users from "falsely identifying" themselves on- lines convince observers that the information superhighway is a dangerous …

Electronic Rights Management And Digital Identifier Systems, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The new world of digital information requires a new way of providing access to that information — while keeping the copyright backbone. It might be technically easier to create a digital infrastructure without copyright: Just throw works up on the Internet, and let anyone get to them for any purposes. But such systems have been suggested and roundly rejected by those who create and own works of value. So we need to build an electronic infrastructure that works with copyright and takes advantage of the digital environment. This paper looks at the attempts to build part of that infrastructure — …

Conflicts On The Net: Choice Of Law In Transnational Cyberspace, Matthew R. Burnsteln

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

No recent technological advance has captured the attention and imagination of the United States and the international community like the advent of global communications networks--the Internet, Cyberspace, the Information Superhighway. While the technology advances daily, a legal regime for ordering cyberspace has not yet evolved. Already, cases are reaching the courts in which plaintiffs complain of improper and unlawful activities by defendants in cyberspace. Both cyberspace's growing ubiquity and the anonymity found online will increase international use of the networks for interaction and commerce. This Note considers the conflict of laws implications of transnational cyberspace. The need to consider choice …

The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act Of 1986: A Measured Response To A Growing Problem, Dodd S. Griffith

Vanderbilt Law Review

Before the invention of the computer, the amount of property an individual could steal or destroy was, to some extent, determined by physical limitations. Criminals could take only as much property as they could carry or arrange to transport. For example, the average amount of money taken in a bank robbery has been estimated to be about ten thousand dollars. Crime has, however, changed with the times. A criminal can use modern technology to transfer extremely large sums of money that formerly would have been impossible to remove without detection. A 1984 study conducted by the American Bar Association Task …