Law Commons^™

What’S In A Name?, Jonathan Zittrain

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Ruling the Root, Milton L. Mueller, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002, 301 pages.

A review of Milton L. Mueller's Ruling the Root, The MIT Press, 2002. In the spring of 1998, the U.S. government told the Internet: Govern yourself. This unfocused order-a blandishment, really, expressed as an awkward "statement of policy" by the Department of Commerce, carrying no direct force of law-came about because the management of obscure but critical centralized Internet functions was at a political crossroads. In Ruling the Root, Mueller thoroughly documents the colorful history both before and after this moment of inflection, and gives …

Quibbles'n Bits: Making A Digital First Sale Doctrine Feasible, Victor F. Calaba

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Whereas the first sale doctrine historically permitted the transfer and resale of copyrighted works, license agreements used by software companies and the DMCA's strict rules prohibiting tampering with access control devices frustrate exercise of the first sale doctrine with respect to many forms of digital works[...] This article explores the first sale doctrine as it pertains to digital works and proposes ways to make a digital first sale doctrine feasible. Part II describes the first sale doctrine as it has traditionally been applied to non-digital works. Part III discusses modern technology's impact on the distribution and use of copyrighted material. …

The First International Competition For Online Dispute Resolution: Is This Big, Different And New?, Benjamin G. Davis, Franklin G. Snyder, Kay Elkins Elliott, Peter B. Manzo, Alan Gaitenby, David Allen Larson

Faculty Scholarship

In February of 2002, the International Competition for Online Dispute Resolution (ICODR) was held to address the issue of new uses of technology is dispute resolution. This article describes the competition with individual presentations from the perspectives of a problem drafter, a coach, a participant, the evaluators, and an organizer. In the conclusion, the author presents some observations on why this International Competition for Online Dispute Resolution is big, different, and new.

Corporate Cybersmear: Employers File John Doe Defamation Lawsuits Seeking The Identity Of Anonymous Employee Internet Posters, Margo E. K. Reder, Christine Neylon O'Brien

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Communications systems are now wide open and fully accessible, with no limits in range, scope or geography. Targeted audiences are accessible with pinpoint accuracy. Messages reach millions of readers with one click. There is a chat room for everyone. Most importantly, there is no limit on content. Therefore, employees can register their dissatisfaction by posting a message in a chat room. Moreover, the identity of the posting employee is not easily discoverable due to anonymous and pseudonymous communications capabilities. The nature of these online messages is qualitatively different from real-world communications. By way of example, newspapers have a responsibility regarding …

Marking Carnivore's Territory: Rethinking Pen Registers On The Internet, Anthony E. Orr

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

"Carnivore" entered the online world's collective consciousness in June 2000 when the Federal Bureau of Investigation unveiled the Internet surveillance software program to telecommunications industry specialists. The FBI claims the program allows agents to scan the traffic of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for messages or commands to or from a criminal suspect and then intercept only those messages, capturing copies of e-mails, web site downloads and other file transfers[...] A central issue in the controversy surrounding Carnivore is whether current law permits the FBI to employ the program in the Internet context. Bureau officials claim statutory authority for deployments …

Injunctive Relief In The Internet Age: The Battle Between Free Speech And Trade Secrets, Adam W. Johnson

Federal Communications Law Journal

The information revolution has led to technological innovations in the movement, storage, and dissemination of information. The Internet allows a person, with good or bad intent, to distribute information to millions of people. This ability raises serious implications when trade secret information is the subject of Internet postings. Once a trade secret becomes publicly available, it loses its legal secrecy, and special legal protection. Additionally, competitors and everyone else on the Internet can gain access to the information. For those who rely on trade secret protection to guard their inventions, this presents a growing concern.

This Note will illustrate the …

Carnivore, The Fbi’S E-Mail Surveillance System: Devouring Criminals, Not Privacy, Griffin S. Dunham

Federal Communications Law Journal

On July 11, 2000, the FBI intorduced Carnivore, an Internet monitoring system. It was designed, and is used exclusively, to carry out court-ordered surveillance of electronic communications. It is a tangible, portable device, tantamount to a phone tap, that allows the FBI to intercept and collect criminal suspects' e-mail without their knowledge or consent. This Note addresses competing and parallel interests between the government and society to determine the legitimacy and necessity of Carnivore. The purpose of this Note is twofold: first, to demonstrate the need for Carnivore to enable law enforcement to keep up with criminals who utilize cyberspace …

Indecent Exposures In An Electronic Regime, Natalie L. Regoli

Federal Communications Law Journal

As the topic of data privacy is vast and the subject of much scrutiny, this Comment focuses narrowly on commercial cyber-activities relating to the nonconsensual Internet acquisition of personally identifiable user data. Beginning with a brief examination of the technology that has exacerbated privacy law's inadequacies, it briefly discusses failed attempts to safeguard privacy rights through the market and federal agency management. It then addresses current U.S. privacy legislation and the 1995 European Privacy Directive. Finally, this Comment proposes the creation of a new legislative system to effectively combat the surreptitious collection, storage, use, and sale of personal data.

The Defamation Of Choice-Of-Law In Cyberspace: Countering The View That The Restatement (Second) Of Conflict Of Laws Is Inadequate To Navigate The Borderless Reaches Of The Intangible Frontier, Philip Adam Davis

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Note examines the adequacy of the traditional choice-of-law rules, including the Restatement (Second), in interstate cyber-defamation disputes, and argues that there is nothing different or unique about cyberspace which warrants the modification or abandonment of traditional choice-of-law regimes for cyber-defamation disputes.

Law And Information Platforms, Philip J. Weiser

Publications

No abstract provided.

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 …

Who Was That Masked Man? Online Defamation, Freedom Of Expression, And The Right To Speak Anonymously, Jonathon T. Feasby

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

As the internet continues to reach into the lives of people around the world, it facilitates interaction and the exchange of ideas between far-flung individuals and groups to an extent unprecedented in communications history. However, with this positive effect, the potential of the internet as a forum for defamation and other malfeasance has increased as well. Words online can be heard or read in places conventional forms of speech might never reach. As the United States Supreme Court put it, with the aid of the internet ". . . any person with a phone line can become a town crier …

The Managing Lawmaker In Cyberspace: A Power Model, Tamar Frankel

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is about power - the ability to gain obedience whether by captivating followers, persuading skeptics or awarding and withdrawing economic benefits. The purpose of this Article is to analyze how the power of the Internet Corporation for Names and Numbers ("ICANN") was created, augmented, strengthened and reined in. Many controversies surround ICANN, including the very foundation of its existence - the need for a single "root" in the Internet naming infrastructure - its organizational form and accountability, and the utterances, policies and actions of its management.

The purpose of this Article is not to argue and prescribe but …

How Far Have We Come, And Where Do We Go From Here: The Status Of Global Computer Software Protection Under The Trips Agreement, Aaron D. Charfoos

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The TRIPS agreement made significant advances over the pre-TRIPS international regime with respect to the protection of computer software. There are at least two significant advances. First, computer software protections have been embedded into the new dispute resolution procedures. Second, both object and source code are protected under the copyright sections of the Agreement. The dispute resolution procedures provide back-end protection (protection after offenses have occurred), while new copyright provisions provide affirmative front-end protection (protection deterring such offenses). However, the Agreement could have, and should have, gone farther to protect the software industry. By not formally deciding on the ability …

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 …