Computer Law Commons^™

The Internet Direct Public Offering: Establishing Trust In A Disintermediated Capital Market, Jason Trainor

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Whereas the process of financial intermediation was once human capital and relationship intensive, it is now heavily influenced by technological innovation and consumer demand, factors which have tended to disrupt the monopoly power of financial intermediaries. Technological innovation alone, however, is not sufficient to replace the institutions and actors that previously dominated the market for public offerings; rather, the concept of disintermediation by definition creates a vacuum that must be filled. Law firms and other intermediaries can create additional value for their clients by assuming some or all of the tasks currently apportioned to investment bankers in the public offering …

Reducing Inconsistency In Udrp Cases, David Wotherspoon, Alex Cameron

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The UDRP has proven to be an effective means of resolving domain name disputes. There are, however, a number of shortcomings in the UDRP that affect its legitimacy and fairness. The most glaring of these lies in the failure to delineate the elements outlined in section 4(a) of the UDRP and in the application of Rule 15(a) of the Rules for Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the ‘‘Rules’’).4 These shortcomings have resulted in inconsistency in the decisions of arbitral panels. As it stands, complainants are unable to ascertain the case they must meet in order to succeed and respondents are …

Information Technology Transactions: Business, Management And Legal Strategies By Dunca Card (Toronto: Carswell, 2002), Michael E. Deturbide

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Although a number of Canadian books have appeared over the past few years addressing the legal issues that have arisen with the explosion in information technology, few have highlighted the practical implica- tions that these legal issues have in technology transac- tions. Duncan Card’s new book, Information Tech- nology Transactions: Business, Management and Legal Strategies, tackles these issues from a practical perspective that will be useful, as the title suggests, to both lawyers and management.

Letter From The Editor, John Joseph Meadows

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

On behalf of the Editorial Board and the entire staff, welcome to this second issue of our Ninth Volume for the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology. This issue consists of four pieces and we are excited to present such a wide range of topics.

Patterson V. Commonwealth: An Illustration Of The Legal Complexity Of Dna Databases, Audrey J. Burges

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

In the old-fashioned drawing-room murder mysteries, the villain usually eliminated his target in some Victorian manner - asphyxiation in bed with a pillow, drowning in a clawed-foot tub, stabbing in the back with a letter opener - and then skulked away, convinced he had committed the perfect crime. In the plot of these mysteries, the foil to the crime always proved to be the experienced detection of a meticulous sleuth. AgathaChristie would use the skills of Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple within the plot of her novels to detect the one flaw in the murderer's technique. Perhaps there was some …

"The Implicit Association Test": A Measure Of Unconscious Racism In Legislative Decision-Making, Reshma M. Saujani

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Article argues that the Court will not fulfill the promise of the Equal Protection Clause unless the Court adapts its vision of antidiscrimination to account for the complex nature of discrimination. Imagine that we could measure unconscious discrimination. If so, then we could broaden the concept of purposeful discrimination to include the measurement of a legislator's reliance on unconscious racial stereotypes. Such a measuring device may already exist: The Implicit Association Test (IAT), a computer-based test developed by Yale and University of Washington psychologists. Researchers do not yet know how well the IAT can uncover racial stereotypes; however, if …

Digital Architecture As Crime Control, Neal K. Katyal

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper explains how theories of realspace architecture inform the prevention of computer crime. Despite the prevalence of the metaphor, architects in realspace and cyberspace have not talked to one another. There is a dearth of literature about digital architecture and crime altogether, and the realspace architectural literature on crime prevention is often far too soft for many software engineers. This paper will suggest the broad brushstrokes of potential design solutions to cybercrime, and in the course of so doing, will pose severe criticisms of the White House's recent proposals on cybersecurity.

The paper begins by introducing four concepts of …

Is There Judicial Recourse To Attack Spammers?, Ashley L. Rogers

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Note will discuss the issue of non-commercial spam through the prism of a case recently decided by the California Supreme Court, Intel v. Hamidi. Until recently there was no federal regulation for unwanted electronic communication and common law was the only potential solution. Part I of this Note will discuss the nature of spam, focusing on the distinction between commercial e-mail and bulk e-mail and the importance therein. Part II will detail the history and the legal doctrine of trespass as it applies to the Internet. Part III will summarize the case of Intel v. Hamidi as it struggled …

Cross Border E-Commerce And The Gst/Hst: Towards International Consensus Or Divergence?, Keith R. Evans

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In February 2001, the OECD issued a draft report on ‘‘Consumption Tax Aspects of Electronic Commerce’’. The purpose of this report was to seek comments on Working Party No. 9’s conclusions and recommendations in respect of the approach to be taken on the application of consumption taxes to e-commerce in light of the Ottawa Taxation Framework Conditions. The 1998 Conditions called for the taxation principles that applied to traditional commerce to be the guide for the taxation of e-commerce, to ensure non-discriminatory tax treatment of electronic commerce transactions. In November 2001, the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (‘‘CCRA’’) issued its …

Fragmented Copyright, Fragmented Management: Proposals To Defrag Copyright Management, Daniel Gervais, Alana Maurushat

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The collective management of copyright in Canada was conceived as a solution to alleviate the problem of inefficiency of individual rights management. Creators could not license, collect and enforce copyright efficiently on an individual basis. Requiring users to obtain permission from individual copyright holders for the use of a work was equally inefficient. Collectives, therefore, emerged to facilitate the clearance of rights between creators and users. Even with the facilitation of collectives in the process, clearing rights remains an inherently difficult and convoluted process. This is especially so in the age of the Internet where clearing rights for multimedia products …

Harnessing Information Technology To Improve The Environmental Impact Review Process, Michael B. Gerrard, Michael Herz

Faculty Scholarship

In 1970, when the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was enacted, the new and exciting information management technologies were the handheld four-function calculator and the eight-track tape cassette. Three decades later, after the personal computer, the digital revolution, and the World Wide Web, the implementation of NEPA is still stuck in the world of 1970. Other aspects of the bureaucracy have seen reform-the E-Government Strategy, an E-Government Act, the creation of a new Office of Electronic Government within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and, to focus on the environmental arena, the breathtaking success of the web-based Toxic Release …

Clicks And Mortar: Taxing Multinational Business Profits In The Digital Age, Aldo Forgione

Seattle University Law Review

This Article argues that governments should abandon the treaty concept of permanent establishment and adopt international tax reforms that restore the primacy of "market country taxation of multi-national business profits promoted by domestic tax laws. Part I explores several emerging e-commerce issues that demonstrate the tension of introducing traditional tax norms to a digital environment. Part II reviews historical and recent developments in the international taxation of business profits and looks at the underlying trends and sentiments for reform of the existing system of global taxation of business income. Part III canvasses several prominent international tax reform alternatives proposed by …

Bargaining In The Shadow Of Copyright Law After Tasini, Maureen A. O'Rourke

Faculty Scholarship

Copyright law often provides the background rules against which bargaining over rights in works of information takes place. By granting creators of works of authorship certain exclusive rights and providing protection against infringement of those rights, copyright law effectively gives authors bargaining chips to use in negotiations with those who would exploit their works in some way. Generally, however, copyright law does not explicitly address imbalances in bargaining power that affect the division of the surplus between the parties to a copyright license. When the would-be exploiter of the copyrighted work wields some degree of market power or brings significant …

Computer Attacks On Critical National Infrastructure: A Use Of Force Invoking The Right Of Self-Defense, Eric Talbot Jensen

Faculty Scholarship

Computer networks create tremendously increased capabilities but also represent equally increased vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilites are especially acute in relation to potential attacks on critical national infrasturucture. This Article proposes that international law must evolve to recognize that attacks against a nation's critical national infrastructure from any source constitute a use of force. Such attacks, therefore, give the victim state the right to proportional self-defense - including anticipatory self-defense - even if the computer network attack is not an armed attack under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. Due to the instantaneous nature of computer network attacks, the right to …

Vol. Ix, Tab 46 - Ex. 7 - Email From Jeff Dean To Google, Jeff Dean

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

4th Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the 4th Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute held by UK/CLE in November 2002.

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

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vigilantes V. Pirates: The Rumble Over Peer-To-Peer Technology Hits The House Floor, Christopher Fazekas

Duke Law & Technology Review

Content providers are using the digital rights management technology contained in this product to protect the integrity of their content ("Secure Content") so that their intellectual property, including copyright, in such content is not misappropriated... if you elect to download a license from the Internet which enables your use of Secure Content, Microsoft may, in conjunction with such license, also download onto your computer such security updates that a secure content owner has requested that Microsoft distribute.

Protecting The Homeland By Exemption: Why The Critical Infrastructure Information Act Of 2002 Will Degrade The Freedom Of Information Act, Brett Stohs

Duke Law & Technology Review

To protect against "cyberterror," the House version of the Homeland Security Act exempts information related to the nation's critical infrastructure from the Freedom of Information Act disclosure requirements. The proposed exemption unnecessarily threatens public access to vital information about health and safety information; information the Freedom of Information Act was designed to guarantee.

Script Kiddies Beware: The Long Arm Of U.S. Jurisdiction To Prescribe, John Eisinger

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Personal Information Protection And Electronic Documents Act: A Comprehensive Guide By William Charnetski, Patrick Flaherty And Jeremy Robinson (Toronto Canada Law Book Inc., 2001), Teresa Scassa

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act: A Comprehensive Guide (the Guide) is the second book to be published in English in Canada dealing expressly with the Personal Information Protec- tion and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The Guide is different from the earlier work, in that it is not a section by section discussion or annotation of the provisions of PIPEDA. Rather, it is organized into eight chapters, each addressing a distinct theme or topic. The Guide is also aimed at a more professional audience than the earlier work. In its introduction, and in its choice of content, it …

Solving Legal Issues In Electronic Government: Jurisdiction, Regulation, Governance, John D. Gregory

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper looks at who can be governed, what can be governed, and how it can be governed in an electronic world. Whether law aims to be enabling (i.e., confirming the ground rules and the legal effectiveness of general conduct) or normative (i.e., imposing standards of conduct on more or less willing subjects), the new media presents difficulties for its rational evolution.

These are distinct questions from those raised by government online. Electronic service delivery issues tend to focus on how government can carry on its traditional programs using electronic means and how the law can support it in doing …

The Patriation Of .Ca, Gregory R. Hagen, Kim G. Von Arx

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Country code top level domains (‘‘ccTLD’’s), such as .ca, are distinct from generic top-level domains (‘‘gTLD’’s), such as .com, in that they are generally conceived to be associated with a specific country. In Canada, the authority to operate the technical functions of the .ca domain name registry has been delegated to the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (‘‘CIRA’’) by a United States non-profit corporation, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (‘‘ICANN’’). The authority to make policy regarding the .ca has purportedly been delegated to CIRA by the Government of Canada. There is an issue, however, as to whether ICANN’s …

The New Singapore Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy: The Context Of The Common Law And Icann's Udrp, Richard Wu

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In this article, I will analyse the salient features of the Policy and evaluate the extent to which they match international practice. I will focus, in particular, upon the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the rules made under the UDRP. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the international body responsible for domain name management, adopted both in 1999. As the nature of domain name disputes and dispute resolution rules are very similar in different countries, domain name disputes are becoming a global phenomenon, leading to the development of a kind of ‘‘Internet common law’’. …

Global Trecs: The Regulation Of International Trade In Cyberspace, J. Steele

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper provides an overview of trade-related aspects of electronic commerce, and examines three approaches for regulating international trade in cyber- space. A model which integrates these approaches is then proposed, emphasizing private standards of self-regula- tion within a broader public framework of minimal background standards. A summary of potential areas of conflict between competing regulatory approaches fol- lows, and the paper concludes that both the WTO and the OECD have important roles to play in the develop- ment of international consensus towards a harmonized framework for the regulation of global TRECs.

M-Commerce: The Notion Of Consumer Consent In Receiving Location-Based Advertising, Eloïse Gratton

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The development of location-based advertising, for all its convenience and usefulness, introduces new and heightened privacy risks for consumers that must be addressed. The portability of wireless devices and the ubiquity of their applications, coupled with an ability to pinpoint the location of wireless users and reveal it to others, could produce a system where the everyday activities and movements of these users are tracked and recorded. Wireless users would receive unanticipated advertising messages on their wireless device, commonly referred to as ‘‘wireless spam’’, generally considered a form of privacy violation.

In order to obtain a valid consent from the …

Open Source, Open Arms: An Open-Ended Question, Alana Maurushat

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper is structured to address several aspects and challenges to the open source movement. Beginning with an outline of the historical and cultural components of the open source movement, the paper will move on to explore the economic and philosophical underpinnings of intellectual property. It will be demonstrated that open source finds itself uniquely situated within these theories and doctrines. The questions that open source poses for intellectual property will then be examined. My arguments will stem from the general premise that open source is threatened by three mechanisms: the uncertainty of the validity of open source licenses, potentially …

Computer Searches And Seizures: Some Unresolved Issues, Susan W. Brenner, Barbara A. Frederiksen

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The goal of this article is to illustrate the issues that arise in the context of computer search and seizures by examining several areas in which the application of Fourth Amendment concepts to computer searches and/or seizures can be problematic. In order to illustrate this point, the article will build on a hypothetical. The hypothetical situation assumes law enforcement officers have lawfully obtained a warrant to search for and seize evidence concerning the commission of one or more crimes. It will also be assumed that computer technology played some role in the commission of these crimes, so computer equipment and …

Closed Circuit Television For Inside Your Head: Blanket Traffic Data Retention And The Emergency Anti-Terrorism Legislation, Caspar Bowden

Duke Law & Technology Review

Caspar Bowden, Director of the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), explains the technical and legal context of unprecedented new surveillance capabilities, with particular reference to the UK's Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act 2000. He discusses why these powers are unlikely to be effective in detecting or disrupting the communications of terrorist cells or organized crime, but present significant new threats to the security, privacy, and freedom of expression of the law-abiding.

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. …