Law Commons^™

Choice, Conscience, And Context, Mary A. Crossley

UC Law Journal

In this commentary, Professor Crossley uses Professor Shapiro's Article as a springboard for considering two practices that increasingly are becoming part of the new reproductive landscape: selective reduction of multiple pregnancy and prenatal genetic testing to enable selective abortion. Professor Crossley considers how these practices might affect our understanding of personhood, particularly with respect to the types of criticisms that Professor Shapiro addresses in his Article. The nature of the threat to personhood posed by the use of selective reduction depends on whether a couple pursuing aggressive infertility treatment is fully informed, prior to commencing treatment, of the risks of …

Continuing Economic Reform In The People's Republic Of China: Bankruptcy Legislation Leads The Way, Shirley S. Cho

UC Law SF International Law Review

Critics view the 1986 Enterprise Bankruptcy Law (Bankruptcy Law) of the People's Republic of China as an ineffective piece of legislation passed more for symbolic ends than as a means to deal with systemic economic problems plaguing China. However, the Bankruptcy Law has proven to be one of the most pivotal pieces of legislation in modern Chinese history and has served as the main impetus for wide-reaching reform in major sectors of the Chinese economy.

This Note examines the debate surrounding the Bankruptcy Law from its inception, its controversial substantive provisions, its unsuccessful implementation, and finally its positive repercussions in …

A Tale Of Two Opinions, Joseph R. Grodin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Media Liability For Defamation Of Public Figures, John L. Diamond

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Historical Origins Of The Alien Tort Statute: A Response To The "Originalists", William S. Dodge

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Arbitration Of Employment Discrimination Claims: Doctrine And Policy In The Wake Of Gilmer, Joseph R. Grodin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Who Should Regulate The Ethics Of Federal Prosecutors?, Rory K. Little

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Of Fairness And Might: The Limits Of Sovereign Power To Tax After Winstar, Leo P. Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Protecting Possession, Ugo Mattei

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Negotiation And Psychoanalysis: If I'D Wanted To Learn About Feelings, I Wouldn't Have Gone To Law School, Melissa Lee Nelken

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

At The Fusion Of Horizons: Incommensurability And The Public Interest, Joan C. Williams

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Model Water Transfer Act For California, Richard M. Rosenberg

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Communities And Water Markets: A Review Of The Model Water Transfer Act, Santos Gomez, Penn Loh

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

The Shape Of Transfers To Come: A Model Water Transfer Act For California, Brian E. Gray

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Wheeling Provisions Of The Model Water Transfer Act, Timothy H. Quinn

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Reflections On The Model Water Transfer Act By The Natural Heritage Institute, Gregory A. Thomas, Tara L. Mueller

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

The Lecture Series, Mary Kay Kane

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

Patent Protection For Computer-Related Inventions: The Past, The Present, And The Future, Nancy J. Linck, Karen A. Buchanan

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Intellectual property protection is important to the United States' economic welfare, in particular to the computer industry. This Article briefly overviews the underlying purpose of the United States' patent laws and the confusion present in the law regarding patent protection for computer software and computer-related inventions. It begins its discussion of this confusion with a review of the history of patent protection for these inventions, characterizing the history as "marked by 'stops and starts.'" The initial "starts" are numerous cases from the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals reversing the Patent and Trademark Office's (PTO's) refusal to issue a patent …

Utilitarian Design Features And Antitrust Parallels: An Economic Approach To Understanding The Funtionality Defense In Trademark Litigation, M. A. Cunningham

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In this Article, the author addresses an issue of continuing significant concern to trade dress owners by examining the impact of a recent Supreme Court decision on the role of the functionality defense in trademark litigation. He traces the development of the functionality doctrine in the courts and identifies the convergence of the principles underlying the doctrine with the competition concerns of antitrust law. The Article concludes with recommendations for ways of employing the economic analysis used in antitrust litigation as an effective tool to resolve disputes over whether a particular combination of design features is functional.

Impact Of The Communications Decency Act Of 1996 On Federal Prosecutions Of Computer Dissemination Of Obscenity, Indecency, And Child Pornography, William P. Keane

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

With the passage of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, Congress provided federal prosecutors with a potentially powerful new tool for combating "indecent" communications sent or made available to minors through computer networks. The author offers an early examination of the CDA on the use of computer and computer networks as instrumentalities of federal obscenity, indecency, and child pornography crimes, as well as the possible Constitutional challenges that are likely to emerge. He also outlines anticipated problems with enforcement, proof, and various defense strategies.

Virtual Prostitution: New Technologies And The World's Oldest Profession, David Cardiff

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The various developing technologies that will allow entertainment consumers to receive video on demand will provide increased choice and interactivity. These technologies will also be capable of providing interactive video pornography, thus refocusing the public debate regarding obscene and indecent communications. This Note explores the capabilities of these new technologies, vis-A-vis pornographic communications, in the context of the traditional nuisance-based jurisprudence that has evolved in response to more traditional means of disseminating pornography, and in the context of the various new laws, including the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which are intended to restrict access to, and punish purveyors of, …

Pinning The Blame In Cyberspace: Towards A Coherent Theory For Imposing Vicarious Copyright, Trademark And Tort Liability For Conduct Ocurring Over The Internet, Ian C. Ballon

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Vicarious liability, or the principle that under certain circumstances it is fair and just to hold unrelated third parties liable for conduct which they did not initiate or perhaps even condone, is both a logical outgrowth of, and impediment to, the ongoing rapid expansion of the Internet. Online infringers and tortfeasors may be more likely than others to be effectively "judgment proof," because their conduct was undertaken anonymously, they cannot satisfy a damages award, or they are located beyond the jurisdiction of a convenient and economical U.S. venue for litigation. As a consequence, and as Internet use has increased and …

Regulating Competition In The Information Age: Computer Software As An Essential Facility Under The Sherman Act, David Mcgowan

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Article examines the application of the antitrust laws to computer software markets, beginning with a discussion of the different economic approaches underlying the antitrust and copyright laws. The Article contends generally that antitrust does not provide the analytical tools necessary to determine the optimal scope of copyright protection. The Article then examines more particularly the increasingly common argument that access to software code-including at least some form of copying-may be an "essential facility" under the antitrust laws. In this regard the Article discusses the analytical confusion surrounding the essential facilities concept and argues that application of the concept should …

The Application Of Securities Laws In Cyberspace: Jurisdictional And Regulatory Problems Posed By Internet Securities Transactions, Kenneth W. Brakebill

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Note examines the impact of the Cyberspace revolution upon our current American system of securities regulation. The Author discusses several recent technological innovations, including the advent of electronic media to deliver corporate information to investors, the use of the Internet to consummate public stock offerings, and the creation of on-line securities trading systems to match buyers and sellers, and addresses the response of securities regulators to these novelties. In large part, the author will explore the legal uncertainty that has been thrust upon the American courts, federal and state regulators, and investors in light of the growing use of …

Making The World Wide Web Safe For Democracy: A Medium-Specific First Amendment Analysis, Andrew Chin

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The World Wide Web, a vast speech domain that may ultimately swallow all current forms of telecommunications media, presents urgent First Amendment issues. Most significantly, the structure of linked documents on the Web has served to concentrate speech power and impoverish democratic discourse. As extensive surveys by the author and others demonstrate, commercial speech dominates the Web and political discourse on the Web has become balkanized.

Using a quantitative model, it is possible to isolate and identify the characteristics of Web sites that contribute to robust public debate. These findings suggest a range of structural policies that would support the …

American Wine's New Internationalism: Nafta's Impact On The U.S. Wine Industry In The Established And Emerging Markets Of Canada And Mexico, Sarah E. Richards

UC Law SF International Law Review

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) specifically addresses wine trade issues. Although these provisions constitute only a small part of the overall agreement, their inclusion reflects the important role the wine industry has assumed in the United States, and hints at the increasingly prominent role wine exports will have in future relations among North American countries.

This Note examines the special problems that arise in conjunction with the exportation of wine and other alcoholic beverages from the United States. It goes on to contend, however, that NAFTA's implementation should significantly boost U.S. wine exports to the established but heavily …

The Historical Origins Of The Alien Tort Statute: A Response To The Originalists, William S. Dodge

UC Law SF International Law Review

The Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350, which provides federal jurisdiction over suits by aliens for torts in violation of the law of nations, has been used repeatedly in human rights litigation since Filartiga v. Pefia-Irala, 630 F.2d 876 (2d Cir. 1980). This Article looks at the history of the Alien Tort Statute, tracing its origins to the Alien Tort Clause of the 1789 Judiciary Act and, before that, to a 1781 resolution of the Continental Congress urging States to allow damages suits to redress violations of the law of nations. This history shows that the Alien Tort Statute …

Exposure To The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: A Guide For U.S. Companies With Activities In The People's Republic Of China To Minimize Liability, Delia Poon

UC Law SF International Law Review

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) creates a difficult task for U.S. businesses abroad: to reconcile the customary practices of many developing countries with the U.S. legal framework, which may be incompatible with regulating behavior abroad. This Note outlines the background and the major provisions of the FCPA, and examines the difficulties U.S. entities face in the People's Republic of China in light of China's increasingly corrupt business environment. China's rampant corruption, part-planned and part-market economy, and popular joint venture arrangements for direct foreign investment create numerous FCPA pitfalls.

This Note then examines ways in which U.S. businesses can minimize …

The Freedom Of Navigation Program: A Study Of The Relationship Between Law And Politics, William J. Aceves

UC Law SF International Law Review

The history of U.S. maritime policy evinces the inexorable relationship between law and politics. The U.S. Freedom of Navigation (FON) program provides an excellent example of this critical relationship. Established in 1979, the FON program seeks to preserve the freedoms of navigation and overflight by sending vessels and aircraft to exercise these navigational rights in areas where coastal states have sought to restrict or prohibit such transit. It combines diplomatic action with operational challenges to assert U.S. rights under international law. The FON program is based upon the principal sources of public international law: (1) customary international law and (2) …

Counsel For The Situation: The Latin Notary, A Historical And Comparative Model, Pedro A. Malavet

UC Law SF International Law Review

Compared to the legal profession found in the United States, in Latin countries an impartial counsel who advises all parties to a transaction is located at the top of the legal hierarchy and is referred to as the Latin notary. The Latin notary is granted exclusive power to perform certain legal functions such as memorialization of transactions. The Latin notary combines the competence traditionally associated with a public official and the discretion and responsibility of a private legal professional. For these reasons, the Latin notary is quite different from notaries public in the United States. The Latin notary owes a …