Computer Law Commons^™

Copyright, Consumerism, And The Cloud: Proposing Standards-Essential Technology To Support First Sale In Digital Copyright, Marco Puccia

Seattle University Law Review

America’s entertainment industry, and the creative talent that drives it, is a national treasure. Equally valuable, however, is America’s drive and commitment toward technological innovation. These two sectors have been in tension since at least 1908, when the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to determine whether the makers of piano rolls for automatically playing pianos had to pay royalties to the composers. Since that time, the entertainment industry has continued to use copyright law to resist advances in technological innovation that it views as a threat to its existing business models. This Note seeks to provide the necessary context and …

Bridgefunding Crowdfunding And The Market For Entrepreneurial Finance, Seth C. Oranburg

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores the business environment of entrepreneurial finance through the lens of securities regulations. It finds that regulators should be more concerned with protecting investors from startup failure than from crowdfunding fraud. It recommends an amendment to Regula- tion Crowdfunding that may enable startup success: the limit on fun- draising should be raised from $1 to $5 million.

E-Books, Collusion, And Antitrust Policy: Protecting A Dominant Firm At The Cost Of Innovation, Nicholas Timchalk

Seattle University Law Review

Amazon’s main rival, Apple, went to great lengths and took major risks to enter the e-book market. Why did Apple simply choose not to compete on the merits of its product and brand equity (the iPad and iBookstore) as it does with its other products? Why did Apple decide not to continue to rely on its earlier success of situating its products differently in the market than other electronics and working hard to be different and cutting-edge with its e-book delivery? This Note argues that the combination of Amazon’s 90% market share, network externalities, and an innovative technology market creates …

Speculative Tech: The Bitcoin Legal Quagmire & The Need For Legal Innovation, Paul H. Farmer Jr.

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

Costing A Pretty Penny: Online Penny Auctions Revive The Pestilence Of Unregulated Lotteries, David R. Konkel

Seattle University Law Review

Penny auctions, an online phenomenon imported from Europe, operate by the hundreds in the United States without meaningful oversight from consumer protection agencies. In a penny auction, consumers compete for items one penny at a time. To date, no significant inquiry, either academic or practical, into the legitimacy of the penny auction has occurred. Although marketed as auctions, online penny auctions may actually qualify as lotteries. Unlike the multifarious and confusing definitions of gambling, the long-accepted definition of a lottery consists of three elements: prize, consideration, and chance. If a penny auction satisfies this definition then, under well-established case law …

The Granting Clause And Intellectual Property Rights Management In Open-Source Software Licensing, Vikrant N. Vasudeva

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Commercial Access Contracts And The Internet: Does The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act Clear The Air With Regard To Liabilities When An On-Line Access System Fails?, Morgan Stewart

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Internet-Based Fans: Why The Entertainment Industries Cannot Depend On Traditional Copyright Protections , Thomas C. Inkel

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Copyright Falls Behind The Requirement For Protecting Graphic User Interfaces: Case Studies On Limitations Of Copyright Protection For Guis In China, Ling Jin, Yihong Ying

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

“Advancing With The Times: Industrial Design Protection In The Era Of Virtual Migration”, Horacio E. Gutiérrez

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Fair For Whom? Amazon Kindles The Fight Over Internet Sales Tax, 46 J. Marshall L. Rev. 357 (2012), Matthew Martin

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

It's Time For A Good Hard Look In The Mirror: The Corporate Law Example, John A. Barrett, Jr.

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

This Article asserts that the move from the industrial age to the

information age represents a fundamental change to our society on

such a widespread basis that the legal order must reexamine the

premises about how our society functions, assessing whether

foundational elements of U.S. Common Law remain valid. This

Article first confronts briefly the continuing acceptance of certain

foundational premises in contract and intellectual property law,

illustrating that such premises are no longer supported by the

realities of modern society. With fundamental change challenging

multiple areas of law in the information age, this problem is worthy

of widespread inquiry …

Cybercrime, Ronald C. Griffin

Journal Publications

This essay recounts campaigns against privacy; the fortifications erected against them; and hi-jinx attributable to hackers, crackers, and miscreants under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Attention All Internet Users: How Proposed Amendments To The Communications Decency Act Could Save Your Reputation, Niki Blumentritt

Legislation and Policy Brief

Imagine a beautiful fall day on a Southern college campus. The leaves are changing, and the sound of the band practicing for this weekend’s big game echoes throughout campus.  Jane, a college freshman, is walking through campus on the way back to her dorm from her Biology 101 class.  Usually, Jane’s walk is uneventful, aside from the occasional run-in with a friend or sorority sister; however, today is much different.  Jane notices that many people are staring, pointing, and snickering at her.  Is there something on her face?  She quickly pulls out her compact and realizes that all makeup is …

Jacobsen Revisited: Conditions, Covenants And The Future Of Open-Source Software Licenses, Yamini Menon

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Open-source software licensing has become mainstream in the field of software development. Nowhere is this more evident than in the 2008 Federal Circuit decision Jacobsen v. Katzer, where the court first interpreted the terms of an open-source software license. The Jacobsen decision offers an important first step in how to interpret the terms of an open-source license, though it does not address how to interpret licenses other than the Artistic License. This Article explores how Jacobsen’s reasoning can be used to interpret the terms of other open-source licenses, particularly the GPL v.2, GPL v.3, Apache License v.2, BSD …

Capitalizing On Digital Entrepreneurship For Low-Income Residents And Communities, Janet Thompson Jackson

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Consideration In The Electronic Age, Robert A. Hillman, Maureen O'Rourke

Cornell Law Faculty Working Papers

Our fast-paced age of electronic agreements that ostensibly govern transactions as diverse as downloading software, ordering goods, and engaging in collaborative development projects raises questions regarding the suitability of contract law as the appropriate legal framework. While this question arises in many settings, we focus here on the free and open source software (FOSS) movement because of the maturity and success of its model and the ubiquity of its software. We explore in particular whether open source licenses are supported by consideration, and argue that they are, and that open source licenses are contracts. We further argue that a contractual …

Social Networking As A Communications Weapon To Harm Victims: Facebook, Myspace, And Twitter Demonstrate A Need To Amend Section 230 Of The Communications Decency Act, 26 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 415 (2009), Joshua N. Azriel

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The article discusses how social networking sites can pose a danger to victims of online offensive content. Part II provides an overall analysis of the dangers the Internet, especially social networking, poses to victims. Part III reviews Section 230 of the CDA, including the “Good Samaritan” provisions for social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Part IV analyzes three recent court cases that demonstrate how these social networking tools are used as weapons to harm victims. Part V concludes with a discussion of how the growing number of online incidents stem from social networking sites. It recommends that Congress …

Shrinkwrap, Clickwrap, And Other Software License Agreements: Litigating A Digital Pig In A Poke In West Virginia, David R. Collins

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Warranties And Disclaimers In The Electronic Age, Robert A. Hillman, Ibrahim Barakat

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This paper reports on software-licensor express warranty and disclaimer practices on the Internet. Our data show that virtually all of the websites and End User License Agreements (EULAs) we sampled include express warranties on the website and disclaimers of the warranties in the EULAs that may erase all or much of the quality protection. Next, the paper reviews the reasons why consumers generally do not read their e-standard forms despite the prevalence of disclaimers and other adverse terms. We then argue that e-commerce exacerbates the problem of warranties and disclaimers and that lawmakers should address this issue. We contend that …

The Software Licensing Dilemma, Nancy S. Kim

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Gambling And The Law®: The International Law Of Remote Wagering, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1159 (2007), I. Nelson Rose

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Identity Theft: Plugging The Massive Data Leaks With A Stricter Nationwide Breach-Notification Law, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 681 (2007), Amanda Draper

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Data Privacy, Data Piracy: Can India Provide Adequate Protection For Electronically Transferred Data?, Vinita Bali

ExpressO

As the wave of outsourcing to India swells, there is growing concern about the inadequacies of the India legal system in protecting data being transferred to it from other nations for the purpose of processing. India has a smattering of laws that scantily address the issue of data privacy. Under pressure from the business processing industry in India, as well as from the European Union and other nations, it is but a matter of time before India adopts a slate of laws that address the issue of data protection. Once these laws are enacted, the main issue that remains is …

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Identity Theft And Consumer Protection: Finding Sensible Approaches To Safeguard Personal Data In The United States And Canada, Kamaal Zaidi

ExpressO

This paper examines identity theft in both the United States and Canada. Various examples of commercial fraud and scams are discussed in the context of a growing trend of identity thieves assuming identities of innocent consumers. As such, various pieces of legislation and consumer initiatives (involving online consumer complaint mechanisms)in U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions are highlighted to demonstrate the pursuit towards broader consumer protection of personal data used in daily commercial transactions. The author argues that these modern efforts to safeguard consumers from identity theft is a progressive measure that will continue to afford increasing protections for consumer personal data, …

Choice In Government Software Procurement: A Winning Combination, Mclean Sieverding

ExpressO

Governments are such significant purchasers of IT products and services that their purchasing decisions have a substantial impact on the world’s IT marketplace. This fact calls into question the wisdom of decisions by a few policymakers (on national, state, and local levels) around the world that have sought to require that governmental procurement officials give varying degrees of preference to open source software (OSS) when evaluating competing software solutions, claiming, among other things, that such preferences are justified because OSS is cheaper and more interoperable than proprietary software and needs government handicapping in order to enter the market to compete …

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Contracting Spyware By Contract, Jane K. Winn

Articles

The question of what constitutes "spyware" is controversial because many programs that are adware in the eyes of their distributors may be perceived as spyware in the eyes of the end user. Many of these programs are loaded on the computers of end users after the end user has agreed to the terms of a license presented in a click-through interface.

This paper analyzes whether it might be possible to reduce the volume of unwanted software loaded on end users' computers by applying contract law doctrine more strictly. Unwanted programs are often bundled with programs that the end user wants, …