Computer Law Commons^™

Video Games As A Protected Form Of Expression, Paul E. Salamanca

Georgia Law Review

Video games, like motion pictures, failed to qualify for First Amendment protection until well after they emerged as a medium. Today, a number of courts have held that such games constitute a form of expression and do not fall into any recognized category of unprotected speech. Nevertheless, a number of commentators have called for limited constitutional protection for video games, predicating their arguments on a variety of grounds, including the alleged deleterious effects of such games on children. This Article responds to these commentators and defends recent decisions extending protection to video games.

Oops! The Legal Consequences Of And Solutions To Online Pricing Errors, Benjamin Groebner

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

How can businesses conducting sales over the Internet protect themselves from the inevitability of pricing errors? Unlike the brick and mortar retailers’ ability to catch a pricing error quickly, thousands of orders can be placed with online retailers before they detect the problem. When pricing errors do occur and contracts are formed, merchants are forced to choose between absorbing the resulting financial loss as an investment in goodwill or trying to invalidate the contracts under the doctrine of unilateral mistake. To avoid binding contracts with customers at erroneous prices, online retailers should employ protective methods of contract formation that help …

"Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me:" An In-Depth Look At Opportunistic Business Method Patent Licensing And A Proposed Solution To Allow Small-Defendant Business Method Users To Sing A Happier Tune, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1359 (2004), Andrea Lynn Evensen

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Gradual Shift In U.S. Privacy Laws Towards A Comprehensive Regime , Kamaal R. Zaidi

ExpressO

This paper examines the current trends in a predominantly sectoral U.S. privacy regime that appears to be becoming more comprehensive in nature with respect to data privacy protection. This trend has been greatly attributed to the European Union's comprehensive position on data privacy protection. This paper investigates the growth in U.S. data privacy protection in relation to federal and state legislative history, federal administrative procedures, and private industry efforts. This shift from sectoral to comprehensive regimes is significant in the backdrop of U.S-EU trade relations.

Government Preferences For Promoting Open-Source Software: A Solution In Search Of A Problem, David S. Evans, Bernard J. Reddy

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Governments around the world are making or considering efforts to promote open-source software (typically produced by cooperatives of individuals) at the expense of proprietary software (generally sold by for-profit software developers). This article examines the economic basis for these kinds of government interventions in the market. It first provides some background on the software industry. The article discusses the industrial organization and performance of the proprietary software business and describes how the open-source movement produces and distributes software. It then surveys current government proposals and initiatives to support open-source software and examines whether there is a significant market failure that …

Technology Law, J. Douglas Cuthbertson, Glen L. Gross

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Forum-Selection Clauses In Consumer Clickwrap And Browsewrap Agreements And The "Reasonably Communicated" Test, Kaustuv M. Das

Washington Law Review

Although forum-selection clauses in clickwrap and browsewrap agreements have been addressed in only a limited number of decisions, they are likely to become increasingly relevant with the growth of e-commerce. Courts that have enforced forum-selection clauses in click-wrap and browsewrap agreements have often done so without determining whether the consumer received notice of the clause. When courts have addressed notice, they have not used any uniform standard for determining adequacy of notice. Forum-selection clauses in dlickwrap and browsewrap agreements further the policies underlying the Supreme Court's decisions in MIS Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co. and Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. …

Default Rules In Sales And The Myth Of Contracting Out, James J. White

Articles

In this article, I trace the dispute in the courts and before the ALI and NCCUSL over the proper contract formation and interpretation default rules. In Part II, I consider the Gateway litigation. In Part III, I deal with UCITA and the revision to Article 2. In Part IV, I consider the merits of the competing default rules.

The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act: A Well Built Fence Or Barbed Wire Around The Intellectual Commons, Warigia M. Bowman

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) is a proposed state contract law developed to regulate transactions in intangible goods such as computer software, online databases and other digital products.' UCITA was intended to act as Article 2B of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Article 2 comprises the law governing commercial transactions in the sale of goods and ensures consistent contract laws from state to state. The stated goal of UCITA is to provide clarity regarding computer information transactions.

Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act: Bringing Commercial Law Into The 21st Century, Richard L. Grier, Nancyellen Keane, Peter A. Gilbert

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

The e-commerce revolution has redefined the way business is transacted everywhere. Meanwhile, the body of commercial law lags behind the fast pace of technological changes and has yet to effectively address the numerous issues presented by radical changes in the world of commerce such as electronic contracts, electronic signatures, shrinkwrap agreements, and click-wrap agreements. In an effort to establish the Commonwealth of Virginia as a national leader on this subject, in 2000 the Virginia General Assembly passed the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act ("UCITA"). UCITA legislation has been introduced in a handful of other states but the only other state …

A Leap Forward: Why States Should Ratify The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act, David A.P. Neboyskey

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA) has been presented to the states for their ratification. Patterned after the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), UCITA began as an addition to the UCC, but differences between the statutes required UCITA to emerge as a separate entity. The National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) drafted UCITA and approved the Act in Summer 1999. The Act now awaits approval by state legislatures. This Comment analyzes UCITA and argues that the states should ratify the Act. The Comment favorably compares the UCC and UCITA. The UCC follows the principle of "freedom of …

The Electronic Self-Help Provisions Of Ucita: A Virtual Repo Man?, 33 J. Marshall L. Rev. 663 (2000), Craig Dolly

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Copyleft Uses License Rights To Succeed In The Open Source Software Revolution And The Implications For Article 2b, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

The computer industry moves from one “next great thing” to the next “next great thing” with amazing speed. Graphical user interface, object-oriented programming, client-server computing, multimedia software, Java applets, the network computer, and the Internet have all been hailed as technological breakthroughs at one time or another. Some of these promising developments fizzle, some evolve and succeed slowly, and some revolutionize the industry overnight.

Led by a group of software developers known as “hackers,” the latest “next great thing” is “open source” software. The word “source” refers to software in source code form. Source code is the collection of instructions …

World Wide Web Advertising: Personal Jurisdiction Around The Whole Wide World?, Christopher W. Meyer

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Computers As Agents: A Proposed Approach To Revised U.C.C. Article 2, John P. Fischer

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Legal Architecture Of Virtual Stores: World Wide Web Sites And The Uniform Commercial Code, Walter Effross

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Putting The Cards Before The Purse: Distinctions, Differences, And Dilemmas In The Regulation Of Stored Value Card Systems, Walter Effross

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The Implied Warranty Of Merchantability In Software Contracts: A Warranty No One Dares To Give And How To Change That, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

A disclaimer of ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITING THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, greets virtually everyone who prepares to use a computer software product. Software publishers disclaim the implied warranty of merchantability because they do not know what they might be promising if they give it. Though the disclaimer is routine, software publishers have little interest in needlessly eroding confidence in the quality of their products by conspicuously disclaiming a warranty with which their products may well comply. Disclaimers feed suspicion, voiced by industry critics, that software publishers care little about software quality or standing behind their products. Nonetheless, …

Will The Copyright Office Be Obsolete In The Twenty-First Century?, Pamela Samuelson

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The Copyright Office In The Age Of Information, Eric Schwartz

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Software Performance Standards Under Article 2 Of The Uniform Commercial Code, 9 Computer L.J. 465 (1989), James H. Salter

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

No abstract provided.

Computer Programs As Goods Under The U.C.C., Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note addresses the requirements for governing computer program contracts by article 2 of the U.C.C.: that the several methods of selling programs be "transactions in goods" and that the goods not be merely incidental to accompanying services. This Note concludes that contracts for program copies are, in most contexts, transactions within the scope of article 2.

Bank Statements, Cancelled Checks, And Article Four In The Electronic Age, Norman Penney

Michigan Law Review

My task was to prepare a short article dealing in some depth with specific problems which have arisen under Article Four of the Uniform Commercial Code (Code). Unfortunately for purposes of criticism, but happily for those affected by Article Four, a canvass of recent reported cases as well as bank operations people and bank counsel has revealed very few problems of any significance to either the general practitioner or even the so-called commercial law specialist. This prompts two comments: (1) Article Four seems to be working so smoothly that to develop a "problem" would be to make a mountain out …