Law Commons^™

The Irrelevance Of Nanotechnology Patents, Emily Michiko Morris

Emily Michiko Morris

Once the stuff of science fiction, nanotechnology is now expected to be the next technological revolution, but despite millions of dollars of investment, we still have yet to see the brave new world of cheap energy, cell-specific drug delivery systems, and self-replicating nanobots that nanotechnology promises. Instead, nanotechnology seems to be in a holding pattern, perpetually stuck in the status of “emerging science,” “immature field,” and “new technology” for over three decades now. Why? Professor Mark Lemley and a number of others have suggested that the answer to this puzzling question is simple: nanotechnology differs from the all of the …

The Philosophical, Ethical, And Legal Challenges Toward Biopolitics On The Commercializing Human Body Parts, Jongho Kim

Jongho Kim

Medical science has progressed to the point where doctors will soon be able to transplant any human organ. This advancement will have the potential to change attitudes toward human life and the human body – human life can be revitalized and the human body commercialized. Paradoxically, distinguishing between life and death has become harder in a high-tech medical society than it was in primitive society. We now say that the line between death and life should be drawn according to scientific criteria. Death is no longer a natural phenomenon; for modern human beings, it is now no more than an …

The Commons, Capitalism, And The Constitution, George Skouras

George Skouras

Thesis Summary: the erosion of the Commons in the United States has contributed to the deterioration of community and uprooting of people in order to meet the dynamic demands of capitalism. This article suggests countervailing measures to help remedy the situation.

Do The Right Thing: Indirect Remedies In Private Law, Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir

Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir

Private law provides diverse remedies for right violations: compensatory and punitive, monetary and non-monetary, self-help and court-awarded. The literature has discussed these (and other) classifications of remedies, yet it overlooked the important distinction between direct and indirect remedies. Some remedies directly order right-infringers to realize the desired outcome, while others bring it about indirectly, by inducing them to self-comply. This classification cuts across the traditional ones.

This Article fills the gap in the literature by introducing the novel category of indirect remedies. It identifies how indirect remedies are used in current legal rules—with examples from property, contract, torts, intellectual property …

We Want Our Lives Back Too: Expanding Absolute Liability To Include A Recovery For The Victims Of Ecological Catastrophies, Prentice L. White

Prentice L White

WE WANT OUR LIVES BACK TOO: EXPANDING THE COVERAGE OF ABSOLUTE LIABILITY TO INCLUDE A RECOVERY FOR THE VICTIMS OF ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHES BY PRENTICE L. WHITE No one could have anticipated that the worst ecological disaster in history would take place near Louisiana’s coastline. The morning of April 20, 2010, started like any other spring day, but less than ten hours after the sun rose that morning there would be an explosion that would kill 11 oil workers. The first from the explosion would be seen from outer space and millions of gallons of crude oil would spew into the …

Avoid Japanization, Nahoko Ono

Nahoko Ono

USPTO and academia are both recently keen to encourage further transparency of patent assignment recordation system. This article contends that excessive regulatory framework is likely to deter exploitation of patents as Japan fails to do so despite of its top-ranked patent producer in the world.

Locking In Wedlock: Reconceptualizing Marriage Under A Property Model, Ruth Sarah Lee

Ruth S Lee

Legal commentators have long understood divorce laws to reflect our cultural and ideological understanding of the role of marriage, but have criticized topical divorce laws for either failing to match up with current notions of fairness, or for under-compensating at least one party. As divorce laws have evolved, the way we conceptualize marriage has also evolved. Marriage has been modeled as, inter alia, a commitment, a governance, a promise, a tort-doctrinal duty, a status, and now more popularly, a contract or a partnership. Each model provides its own corollary for fairness and opportunism between spouses, possible remedies upon divorce, and …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho S

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

The Article …

(Dis)Owning Religious Speech, Jessie Hill

Jessie Hill

To claims of a right to equal citizenship, one of the primary responses has long been to assert the right of private property. It is therefore somewhat troubling that, in two recent cases involving public displays of religious symbolism, the Supreme Court embraced property law and rhetoric when faced with the claims of minority religious speakers for inclusion and equality. The first, Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, is a free speech case in which the defendant evaded a finding that it was discriminating against the plaintiff’s religious speech by claiming a government speech defense. In the process, it claimed as …

The Protection Of Digital Information And Prevention Of Its Unauthorized Access And Use In Criminal Law, Carrie Leonetti, Moonho Song

Carrie Leonetti

There are a number of valuable intangible properties that do not have specific legislation devoted to their criminal regulation and protection, which poses a vexing problem for the world’s legal systems, which have had an unsatisfactory track record in protecting valuable information over the course of the previous century, giving rise to the need for laws that specifically address issues related to the protection of the integrity of digital information-storage systems. This Article focuses on the protection of these intangibles, when they are stored within a computer system, from their unauthorized use by, or interference from, third parties.

This Article …

One Property, Many Properties. Designing The Liberal Egalitarian Commons, Anna Di Robilant

anna di robilant

In the last two decades pessimistic accounts of common ownership, such as Hardin’s allegory of the “tragedy of the commons”, have, largely, vanished and scholars look at common ownership with novel interest. Common ownership regimes are seen as yielding a variety of desiderata: a more democratic, efficient and responsible management of natural resources, the participatory production of more diverse information and cultural artifacts, and, generally, the more efficient use of scarce resources. With few exceptions, the idea that common ownership could deliver greater economic equality has been largely absent from the commons discourse This article expands the focus of the …

The Ftc’S Proposal For Regulating Ip Through Ssos Would Replace Private Coordination With Government Hold-Up, F. Scott Kieff, Richard Epstein, Daniel Spulber

F. Scott Kieff

In its recent report entitled “The Evolving IP Marketplace,” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advances a far-reaching regulatory approach (Proposal) whose likely effect would be to distort the operation of the intellectual property (IP) marketplace in ways that will hamper the innovation and commercialization of new technologies. The gist of the FTC Proposal is to rely on highly non-standard and misguided definitions of economic terms of art such as “ex ante” and “hold-up,” while urging new inefficient rules for calculating damages for patent infringement. Stripped of the technicalities, the FTC Proposal would so reduce the costs of infringement by downstream …

Property On The Borderline: A Comparative Analysis Of The Legal Status Of Animals In Canada And The United States, Maneesha D. Deckha

Maneesha D Deckha

This Article reviews recent animal-related law reform in the United States in the areas of criminal, tort, family, and estate laws, and juxtaposes these developments with the current state of similar areas of law in Canada. While neither country may be described as “animal-friendly,” the article suggests that the United States is far more willing to challenge the traditional classification of animals as property at least where companion animals are concerned. Canada, in contrast, has remained essentially conservative, failing to engage with the posthumanist questions revisiting animals’ legal status as property that have begun to emerge in American jurisprudence. The …

Four Property Wrongs Of Self-Storage Law, Jeffrey D. Jones

Jeffrey D Jones

Self-storage leases are troubling. Under such leases, self-storage facility owners may freely dispose of defaulting tenants’ medical and tax records, family ashes, heirlooms, etc. in the same manner as they would treat fungible items such as chairs or a bookshelf. Facility owners are legally entitled to do so through facility-sponsored auctions, most of which are unrestricted by any duty to conduct commercially reasonable sales. Still worse, these legal self-storage practices have generated a clandestine culture of treasure-hunting that often leaves tenants—some of whom default due to medical emergencies, bankruptcy or who are homeless working poor—with little opportunity either to regain …

Four Property Wrongs Of Self-Storage Law, Jeffrey D. Jones

Jeffrey D Jones

Self-storage leases are troubling. Under such leases, self-storage facility owners may freely dispose of defaulting tenants’ medical and tax records, family ashes, heirlooms, etc. in the same manner as they would treat fungible items such as chairs or a bookshelf. Facility owners are legally entitled to do so through facility-sponsored auctions, most of which are unrestricted by any duty to conduct commercially reasonable sales. Still worse, these legal self-storage practices have generated a clandestine culture of treasure-hunting that often leaves tenants—some of whom default due to medical emergencies, bankruptcy or who are homeless working poor—with little opportunity either to regain …

Property And Radically Changed Circumstances, John Lovett

John Lovett

Although Hurricane Katrina altered our national dialogue about many issues, few scholars have addressed whether the storm changed thinking about fundamental property relationships. This article fills that void in two ways. First, it creates a theoretical framework for understanding property law in the context of events producing radically changed circumstances. It does this by defining these events, exploring the mismatch between property law’s traditional focus on stability and environments of radical change, creating a taxonomy of property relationships tailored for this exploration, describing typical problems confronted after an event of radical change, and finally developing a set of normative criteria …

Real World Toys And Currency Turn The Legal World Upside Down: A Cross-Sectional Update On Virtual World Legalities, Ian W. Gillies

Ian W. Gillies

With 40 million members on the leading virtual world and overall user growth at 22%, some experts are saying virtual worlds are to the new millennium what websites were to the 90s. Just as the technological and economic growth of the internet drove numerous moral and legal issues to the forefront of society, so also will virtual world growth expand the overlapping moral and legal boundaries between virtual and real world experience. This paper provides a technology and market overview of virtual worlds and explores the intersection of some social and legal issues arising from the financial opportunity and virtual …