Law Commons^™

Protect The Children: Challenges That Result In, And Consequences Resulting From, Inconsistent Prosecution Of Child Pornography Cases In A Technological World, Francis S. Monterosso

Francis S Monterosso

This Note untangles courts’ problems with the prosecution of child pornography defendants and aims to redirect attention to the social impact associated with these crimes. First, Part I provides an introduction to the Note and discusses the background of the Child Pornography Prevention Act. Secondly, Part II sets forth the evolution of the CPPA and its goals and shortcomings. Next, Part III further explains the development of child pornography prosecutions in the United States through two cases that illustrate the government’s desire to prosecute child pornography defendants.

Moreover, Part IV explains the difficulties courts have encountered in the prosecution of …

The Imperfect Is The Enemy Of The Good: Anticircumvention Versus Open Innovation, Wendy Seltzer

Wendy Seltzer

Digital Rights Management, law-backed technological control of usage of copyrighted works, is clearly imperfect: It often fails to stop piracy and frequently blocks non-infringing uses. Yet the drive to correct these imperfections masks a deeper conflict, between the DRM system of anticircumvention and open development in the entire surrounding media environment. This conflict, at the heart of the DRM schema, will only deepen, even if other aspects of DRM can be improved. This paper takes a systemic look at the legal, technical, and business environment of DRM to highlight this openness conflict and its effects.

Scholars have described DRM’s failures …

The Gene Wars: Science, The Law And The Human Genome, Omid E. Khalifeh

Omid E Khalifeh J.D.

Is there a place for gene patents in the patent act? Since before the ruling in Diamond v. Chakrabarty this issue has stirred much controversy in the legal and scientific communities. Although the scope of patentable subject matter has been defined, whether gene patents fall within the precise limits of the Chakrabarty doctrine remains unclear.

Gene patents have increasingly faced scrutiny from people who often times don’t understand genetics or the complexities of the patent process. A lack of understanding has led them to make emotive and one-sided arguments. In his novels, Michael Crichton warns of dangerous mutated bacteria and …

Needles And Notebooks: The Limits Of Requiring Immunization For School Attendance, Allan J. Jacobs

Allan J. Jacobs

The constitutional requirements for compulsory vaccination are analyzed in the context of the release of a vaccine against human papillomavirus, a virus associated with development of various kinds of cancer, requiring many years after infection for cancer to develop. Examination of the requirements of Jacobson v. Massachusetts suggests that proposed vaccination programs be subjected to a balancing test that considers the severity of the disease, the risks of the vaccine, the amount of overall clinical experience with the vaccine, and alternate methods of prevention. It is argued that there are further constraints if vaccination is to be a requirement for …

Social Networking Sites: A Reasonably Calculable Method To Effect Service Of Process, Melodie M. Dan

Melodie M. Dan

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES: A REASONABLY CALCULABLE METHOD TO AFFECT SERVICE OF PROCESS

The evolution of technology has presented a new method of affecting service of process. Society uses social networking sites to stay in touch with family and friends and to meet new friends. We live in a society where social networking sites are a part of our everyday lives. Such sites allow users to send each other messages publicly or privately, either to their private inboxes or by posting a comment to a user’s profile. In light of this new possible method of service, Courts must determine whether service …

What Internet Intermediaries Are Doing About Liability And Why It Matters, Mark Maccarthy

Mark MacCarthy

Abstract: In Who Controls the Internet? Goldsmith and Wu answer that intermediaries control it. Internet service providers, payment systems, search engines, and auction sites provide the infrastructure necessary for Internet transactions. These localized enterprises can be influenced by governments to block illegal transactions. Goldsmith and Wu conclude that this ends the hope of Internet exceptionalists such as Johnson and Post that the Internet would be governed by self-organizing communities of users. In addition, some commentators such as Mann and Belzley suggest that intermediary liability is the right public policy if intermediaries are the least cost avoiders. In this paper, I …

A Defense Of Stem Cell Research, Gregory Dolin

Gregory Dolin

Isolation of human embryonic stem cells in 1998 simultaneously caused great excitement and concern in the scientific community and the population at large. The great promises that the discovery held were viewed with suspicion by many, because the isolation of these stem cells involved destruction of an embryo, and thus, according to some, destruction of innocent human life. Full ten years later, the debate still rages. The present Article proposes a solution to this debate.The solution concedes that the embryo is a human being entitled to full moral protection. Having made that concession, however, the Article proceeds to argue that …

Pharma’S Strategies On Fighting Generics And Healthcare Reform, Rongxiang Liu

Rongxiang Liu

This article first briefly reviews the Hatch-Waxman Act. The Act authorizes a scheme to make it much easier to obtain marketing approval for generics, as well as gives incentives to generic makers to bring generics to the market. The article then discusses the four strategies and their future impacts on drug market. Lastly, to eliminate these impacts, it proposes two legislations to ensure cheap generics be more widely available in order to reduce the healthcare cost.

Copyright Infringement Via Bittorrent Websites; Who’S To Blame?, Stephen M. Collins

Stephen M Collins Jr.

No abstract provided.

Thwack!! Take That, User-Generated Content!: Marvel Enterprises, Inc. V. Ncsoft Corp., Carl M. Szabo

Carl M Szabo

Dear Madam or Sir: As seen in the attached note, I am to make two contributions. First, I address the issue of copyright liability of websites for infringement by the website users. A constant struggle as old as the constitution itself, the issue of copyright protection now makes its way into the virtual world of the internet. While the issue of copyright liability has been seen in hundreds of comments and notes from courts and attorneys alike, the issue of copyright liability on the internet remains an open question that if not addressed could endanger the protection afforded to authors …

Preserving Human Potential As Freedom: A Framework For Regulating Epigenetic Harms, Fazal Khan

Fazal Khan

Epigenetics is a rapidly evolving scientific field of inquiry examining how a wide range of environmental, social, and nutritional exposures can dramatically control how genes are expressed without changing the underlying DNA. Research has demonstrated that epigenetics plays a large role in human development, and disease causation. In a sense, epigenetics blurs the distinction between “nature” and “nurture” as experiences (nurture) become a part of intrinsic biology (nature). Remarkably, some epigenetic modifications are durable across generations, meaning that exposures from our grandparents’ generation might affect our health now, even if we have not experienced the same exposures. In the same …

Enabling Responsible Public Genomics, John M. Conley, Daniel B. Vorhaus, Adam K. Doerr

John M Conley

As scientific understandings of genetics advance, researchers require increasingly rich datasets that combine genomic data from large numbers of individuals with medical and other personal information. Linking individuals’ genetic data and personal information precludes anonymity and produces medically significant information—a result not contemplated by the established legal and ethical conventions governing human genomic research. To pursue the next generation of human genomic research and commerce in a responsible fashion, scientists, lawyers, and regulators must address substantial new issues, including researchers’ duties with respect to clinically significant data, the boundary between genomic research and commerce and the practice of medicine, and …

The Final Frontier: Incorporating Aspects Of Culture And History In The Formation Of A Workable, Legal Framework For Outer Space, Brett S. Janos

Brett S. Janos

No abstract provided.

Misunderstanding Models In Environmental And Public Health Regulation, Wendy E. Wagner, Elizabeth Fisher, Pasky Pascual

Wendy E. Wagner

Computational models are fundamental to environmental regulation, yet their capabilities tend to be misunderstood by policymakers. Rather than rely on models to illuminate dynamic and uncertain relationships in natural settings, models are too often used by policymakers as “answer machines.” This fundamental misperception that models can generate decisive facts leads to a chain reaction of problems that begin with policymaking itself, but then radiate into the science of modeling and into regulatory deliberations where regulatory participants can exploit the misunderstanding in strategic ways. This paper documents the pervasive misperception of models as truth machines in U.S. regulation and the multi-layered …

High-Tech View: The Use Of Immersive Virtual Environments In Jury Trials, Carrie Leonetti, Jeremy Bailenson

Carrie Leonetti

This Article makes both empirical and normative claims about the admissibility of immersive-virtual-environment evidence during a jury trial. The empirical claim is that IVE evidence will inevitably enter the American courtroom; the normative one is that this inevitable entrance is a positive development for the jury’s search for truth.

It argues that, while the digital projections created by an IVE are not perfectly realistic representations of the objects that they seek to recreate, an IVE can, nonetheless, be a fair and accurate representation of the scene that it represents, as long as an expert witness could lay the appropriate foundation …

High-Tech View: The Use Of Immersive Virtual Environments In Jury Trials, Carrie Leonetti

Carrie Leonetti

This Article makes both empirical and normative claims about the admissibility of immersive-virtual-environment evidence during a jury trial. The empirical claim is that IVE evidence will inevitably enter the American courtroom; the normative one is that this inevitable entrance is a positive development for the jury’s search for truth.

It argues that, while the digital projections created by an IVE are not perfectly realistic representations of the objects that they seek to recreate, an IVE can, nonetheless, be a fair and accurate representation of the scene that it represents, as long as an expert witness could lay the appropriate foundation …

P2p 'System Caching' – The Copyright Dilemma, Assaf Jacob, Zoe Argento

Assaf Jacob

This paper explores the legal ramifications of the prevalent Internet Service Provider practice of providing caching services to P2P network users. First, the paper describes the P2P industry, its benefits and drawbacks. Then the paper discusses several caching techniques that can be implemented, and indeed are implemented, by ISPs around the globe. These practices allow ISPs to provide clients with better services but, by the same token, expose them to copyright infringement suits by third parties. The article will discuss how copyright law should consider the costs and benefits to the public of P2P caching practices, especially in the application …

High-Tech View: The Use Of Immersive Virtual Environments In Jury Trials, Carrie Leonetti, Jeremy Bailenson

Carrie Leonetti

This Article makes both empirical and normative claims about the admissibility of immersive-virtual-environment evidence during a jury trial. The empirical claim is that IVE evidence will inevitably enter the American courtroom; the normative one is that this inevitable entrance is a positive development for the jury’s search for truth.

It argues that, while the digital projections created by an IVE are not perfectly realistic representations of the objects that they seek to recreate, an IVE can, nonetheless, be a fair and accurate representation of the scene that it represents, as long as an expert witness could lay the appropriate foundation …

High-Tech View: The Use Of Immersive Virtual Environments In Jury Trials, Carrie Leonetti, Jeremy Bailenson

Carrie Leonetti

This Article makes both empirical and normative claims about the admissibility of immersive-virtual-environment evidence during a jury trial. The empirical claim is that IVE evidence will inevitably enter the American courtroom; the normative one is that this inevitable entrance is a positive development for the jury’s search for truth.

It argues that, while the digital projections created by an IVE are not perfectly realistic representations of the objects that they seek to recreate, an IVE can, nonetheless, be a fair and accurate representation of the scene that it represents, as long as an expert witness could lay the appropriate foundation …

High-Tech View: The Use Of Immersive Virtual Environments In Jury Trials, Carrie Leonetti, Jeremy Bailenson

Carrie Leonetti

This Article makes both empirical and normative claims about the admissibility of immersive-virtual-environment evidence during a jury trial. The empirical claim is that IVE evidence will inevitably enter the American courtroom; the normative one is that this inevitable entrance is a positive development for the jury’s search for truth.

It argues that, while the digital projections created by an IVE are not perfectly realistic representations of the objects that they seek to recreate, an IVE can, nonetheless, be a fair and accurate representation of the scene that it represents, as long as an expert witness could lay the appropriate foundation …

Cyber Apocalypse Now: Securing The Internet Against Cyberterrorism And Using Universal Jurisdiction As A Deterrent, Kelly Gable

Kelly Gable

No abstract provided.

Case Studies In Abandoned Empiricism And The Lack Of Peer Review, Rob M. Frieden

Rob Frieden

In far too many instances, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) engages in results-driven decision making that accrues political dividends at the expense of the public interest. Remarkably, the Commission has used questionable and unverifiable statistics to confirm both the need for greater regulation, but also its abandonment. In the former, a former Chairman of the FCC insisted that data, not even compiled by Commission staff, proved that the cable television market had become so concentrated as to meet a Congressionally legislated trigger for heightened regulatory scrutiny. But in the latter, the FCC has used its statistics to support the conclusion …

Science, Public Bioethics, And The Problem Of Integration, Orlando Carter Snead

O. Carter Snead

Public bioethics — the governance of science, medicine, and biotechnology in the name of ethical goods — is an emerging area of American law. The field uniquely combines scientific knowledge, moral reasoning, and prudential judgments about democratic decisionmaking. It has captured the attention of officials in every branch of government, as well as the American public. Public questions (such as those relating to the law of abortion, the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, and the regulation of end-of-life decisionmaking) continue to roil the public square.

This article examines the question of how scientific methods and principles can and …

Bad Faith In Cyberspace: Grounding Domain Name Theory In Trademark, Property, And Restitution, Jacqueline Lipton

Jacqueline D Lipton

The year 2009 marks the tenth anniversary of domain name regulation under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) and the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Adopted to combat cybersquatting, these rules left a confused picture of domain name theory in their wake. Early cybersquatters registered Internet domain names corresponding with other’s trademarks to sell them for a profit. However, this practice was quickly and easily contained. New practices arose in domain name markets, not initially contemplated by the drafters of the ACPA and the UDRP. One example is clickfarming – using domain names to generate revenues from click-on …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …