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Full-Text Articles in Law

Constitutional Issues In Information Privacy, Fred H. Cate, Robert Litan Oct 2002

Constitutional Issues In Information Privacy, Fred H. Cate, Robert Litan

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The U.S. Constitution has been largely ignored in the recent flurry of privacy laws and regulations designed to protect personal information from incursion by the private sector despite the fact that many of these enactments and efforts to enforce them significantly implicate the First Amendment. Questions about the role of the Constitution have assumed new importance in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Recent efforts to identify and apprehend terrorists and to protect against future attacks threaten to weaken constitutional protections against government intrusions into personal privacy. However, these …


Corporate Cybersmear: Employers File John Doe Defamation Lawsuits Seeking The Identity Of Anonymous Employee Internet Posters, Margo E. K. Reder, Christine Neylon O'Brien Jun 2002

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 Jun 2002

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 …


Who Was That Masked Man? Online Defamation, Freedom Of Expression, And The Right To Speak Anonymously, Jonathon T. Feasby Jan 2002

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 …