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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Law

Re-Reifying Data, James Gibson Nov 2004

Re-Reifying Data, James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

There's a war on between those who view digital technology as a reason to expand intellectual property law and those who oppose this expansion. One front in the war is technological: the pro-expansionists enclose their products in restrictive code, which the anti-expansionists circumvent and hack. A second is legislative: the pro-expansionists seek extended copyright duration, favorable changes to contract law, and other new legal entitlements, while the anti-expansionists lobby for the opposite. And a third front is a combination of the first two: it is technological. On this battlefield, the pro-expansionists use the law to fortify their technological protections. But …


Fair's Fair: An Argument For Mandatory Disclosure Of Technological Protection Measures, Robert C. Denicola Oct 2004

Fair's Fair: An Argument For Mandatory Disclosure Of Technological Protection Measures, Robert C. Denicola

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Section 1201(a)(1) of the Copyright Act prohibits the act of "circumvent[ing] a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work," including, for example, by-passing password protection or encryption intended to restrict access to paying customers. Section 1201(a)(2) prohibits the manufacture or sale of "any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof" primarily designed for the purpose of circumventing access controls on copyrighted works. Additionally, § 1202(b) prohibits the manufacture or sale of products, devices or services primarily designed to circumvent "a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner"--for example, a technological measure intended to …


Better, Faster, Cheaper - Later: What Happens When Technologies Are Suppressed, Kurt M. Saunders, Linda Levine Oct 2004

Better, Faster, Cheaper - Later: What Happens When Technologies Are Suppressed, Kurt M. Saunders, Linda Levine

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Some inventions never see the light of day. Others enter the spotlight after long delays and the factors that slowed the arrival of that innovation are ignored. Technology suppression is a real occurrence involving well known and widely used products. In this Article, we examine the topic of technology suppression, seeking to reveal the tactics of suppression and the patterns and conditions under which it occurs. Current examples of US technologies are used to highlight the significance of this phenomenon. We consider related factors, including market and innovation forces, and we identify suppressive tactics, using illustrative cases where patent nonuse …


What Does Pruneyard Have To Do With California Internet Trade Secret Law?, Adam J. Sheridan Jul 2004

What Does Pruneyard Have To Do With California Internet Trade Secret Law?, Adam J. Sheridan

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This comment discusses the facts of the Bunner case and the decisions of the Sixth District and the Supreme Court. The Bunner case involves Andrew Bunner and his act of putting a link on his Web page allowing visitors to access a Digitial Video Disc (DVD) descrambler program, which allowed a computer user to decrypt DVDs. The DVD Copy Control Association sought an injunction against Bunner under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA). The author analyzes the historical protection given free speech and trade secrets under California law. Looking at the Bunner case in light of Pruneyard, the author …


Biotechnology And The Law: A Consideration Of Intellectual Property Rights And Related Social Issues, Michael D. Mehta Mar 2004

Biotechnology And The Law: A Consideration Of Intellectual Property Rights And Related Social Issues, Michael D. Mehta

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Recent advances in biotechnology are expected by many to improve crop yield, reduce reliance on agricultural inputs like pesticides and herbicides, alleviate world hunger, improve the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceuticals, assist in the discovery of genes that trigger diseases like cancer, and make more efficient our legal institutions through DNA testing. Clearly, innovations in biotechnology are a powerful force for social change, and they pose unique challenges and opportunities for legal scholars and institutions. This section of the Pierce Law Review focuses on the interface between law and technology by examining how innovations in biotechnology accelerate debates about …


Virtual Property: The Challenges Of Regulating Intangible, Exclusionary Property Interests Such As Domain Names, David Nelmark Jan 2004

Virtual Property: The Challenges Of Regulating Intangible, Exclusionary Property Interests Such As Domain Names, David Nelmark

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


How The Established Business Relationship Exemption To The National Do-Not-Call Registry Forces Consumers To Pay For Unwanted Sales Calls, Shannon D. Torgerson Jan 2004

How The Established Business Relationship Exemption To The National Do-Not-Call Registry Forces Consumers To Pay For Unwanted Sales Calls, Shannon D. Torgerson

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


Revisiting Standard-Setting Organizations' Patent Policies, Kraig A. Jakobsen Jan 2004

Revisiting Standard-Setting Organizations' Patent Policies, Kraig A. Jakobsen

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


New Strategies For Owners Of Discontinued Brands, David S. Ruder Jan 2004

New Strategies For Owners Of Discontinued Brands, David S. Ruder

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


Of Patents And Path Dependency: A Comment On Burk And Lemley, R. Polk Wagner Jan 2004

Of Patents And Path Dependency: A Comment On Burk And Lemley, R. Polk Wagner

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article delves into issues surrounding the relationship between technology and the patent law. Responding to Dan Burk and Mark Lemley's earlier article, Is Patent Law Technology-Specific?, the piece notes that the basic question posed by Burk and Lemley's article is a relatively easy question given the several doctrines that explicitly link the subject matter context of an invention to the validity and scope of related patents. This sort of technological exceptionalism (which this Article refers to as micro-exceptionalism) is both observable and easily justifiable for a legal regime directed to technology policy. In contrast, Burk and Lemley's identification of, …


Copyright And Free Expression: The Convergence Of Conflicting Normative Frameworks, Shyamkrishna Balganesh Jan 2004

Copyright And Free Expression: The Convergence Of Conflicting Normative Frameworks, Shyamkrishna Balganesh

All Faculty Scholarship

Recent attempts to expand the domain of copyright law in different parts of the world have necessitated renewed efforts to evaluate the philosophical justifications that are advocated for its existence as an independent institution. Copyright, conceived of as a proprietary institution, reveals an interesting philosophical interaction with other libertarian interests, most notably the right to free expression. This paper seeks to understand the nature of this interaction and the resulting normative decisions. The paper seeks to analyze copyright law and its recent expansions, specifically from the perspective of the human rights discourse. It looks at the historical origins of modern …