Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Free Speech In A Digital Economy: An Analysis Of How Intellectual Property Rights Have Been Elevated At The Expense Of Free Speech, 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 109 (2002), Bernard E. Nodzon Jr.

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Far Have We Come, And Where Do We Go From Here: The Status Of Global Computer Software Protection Under The Trips Agreement, Aaron D. Charfoos

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The TRIPS agreement made significant advances over the pre-TRIPS international regime with respect to the protection of computer software. There are at least two significant advances. First, computer software protections have been embedded into the new dispute resolution procedures. Second, both object and source code are protected under the copyright sections of the Agreement. The dispute resolution procedures provide back-end protection (protection after offenses have occurred), while new copyright provisions provide affirmative front-end protection (protection deterring such offenses). However, the Agreement could have, and should have, gone farther to protect the software industry. By not formally deciding on the ability …

Prospecting Or Cybersquatting: Registering Your Name Before Someone Else Does, 35 J. Marshall L. Rev. 287 (2002), Benjamin B. Cotton

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Digital Tv, Copy Control, And Public Policy, Jonathan Weinberg

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

De-Bugging Open Source Software Licensing, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

Home computer users and businesses often rely on software developed by unconventional programmers known as "hackers." Hackers claim that the code they develop is superior in quality to the code developed by commercial software firms because hackers freely share the code they develop. This code sharing enables a multitude of programmers from around the world to rapidly find and fix bugs. The legal mechanism that enables hackers to deploy this worldwide team of de-buggers is a license agreement or, to be more precise,an assortment of license agreements known as "open source" licenses.

Although open source software developers may regularly fix …

Legal Protection For Software: Still A Work In Progress, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

Software began as geekware-something written by programmers for programmers. Now, software is a business and consumer staple. Cryptic character-based user interfaces have given way to friendly graphical ones; multi-media is everywhere; people own multiple computers of varying sizes; computers are connected to one another across the globe; email and instant electronic messages have replaced letters and telephone calls for many people.

The issue of whether the law should protect software seems quaint to us now. Over the past twenty-five years, legislatures and courts have concluded that copyright, patent, trade secret, trademark, and contract law all can be used to protect …

The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy: A Practical Guide, Bradley J. Freedman, Robert J.C. Deane

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Disputes involving alleged bad faith registration and use of certain Internet domain names may be arbitrated pursuant to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the Policy) mandated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN").

The Policy is the first attempt to establish a global set of substantive rules regarding certain kinds of Internet-related trademark disputes, and a single, international system for the arbitration of those disputes. In many respects, the Policy has fulfilled its objective of providing an efficient and cost effective means of resolving certain domain name disputes. In other respects, however, the experience with …

Who Was That Masked Man? Online Defamation, Freedom Of Expression, And The Right To Speak Anonymously, Jonathon T. Feasby

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

As the internet continues to reach into the lives of people around the world, it facilitates interaction and the exchange of ideas between far-flung individuals and groups to an extent unprecedented in communications history. However, with this positive effect, the potential of the internet as a forum for defamation and other malfeasance has increased as well. Words online can be heard or read in places conventional forms of speech might never reach. As the United States Supreme Court put it, with the aid of the internet ". . . any person with a phone line can become a town crier …

Is Internet Gaming Legal In Canada: A Look At Starnet, C. Ian Kyer, Danielle Hough

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The development of the Internet has kindled many new business opportunities in the online environment. Despite the recent slump in online business growth and popularity, one line of online business is generating profit and growing at a rapid rate: the business of online gaming.

The legality of such businesses is questionable in Canada and there are few gaming cases to assist Canadian lawyers. The following analysis must be considered in light of the dearth of jurisprudence in this area and should not be considered legal advice. This area of the law is in flux and developments may be unpredictable.

When …

Book Review: A Guide To Electronic Legal Research By A. Zivanovic (Markham Ont.: Butterworths Canada, 2001), David H. Michels

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Personal Information Protection And Electronic Documents Act: An Annotated Guide By Stephanie Perrin, Heather H. Black, David H. Flaherty And T. Murray Rankin, Q.C. (Concord, Ont.: Irwin Law, 2001), Teresa Scassa

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In April 2000, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act was passed by the House of Commons. The legislation dealt with both personal information privacy and the use and validity of electronic documents in areas governed by federal law. On January 1, 2001, the portion of the Act dealing with electronic documents took effect, as did the privacy provisions, to the extent that they related to the collection use or disclosure of personal information inter-provincially, or in connection with a federal work, undertaking or business. The Act applied to personal health information as of January 1, 2002, and will …

In Search Of A Balance Between Police Power And Privacy In The Cybercrime Treaty, D.C. Kennedy

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Imagine that you wake up one morning, turn on your computer, and open an e-mail message with a catchy phrase in the subject line. Immediately after opening the e-mail’s attachment, your personal computer is severely damaged. Obviously having a bad day, you head to your job as an attorney for a multinational corporation. By the time you arrive at work, there has been damage to company computers across the globe. The monetary costs of the damage, coupled with the downtime, are astronomical. The CEO of your company is furious. You hope to diffuse the situation by informing your boss that …

Informing Law Curricula: Modifying First-Year Courses To Reflect The Information Revolution, William B.T. Mock

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Why Are We So Reluctant To "Execute" Microsoft?, Robert H. Lande

All Faculty Scholarship

On June 28, 2001, the D.C. Court of Appeals held that Microsoft has violated the antitrust laws repeatedly, relentlessly, and over a multi-year period. The court ruled eight separate times that Microsoft engaged in conduct that illegally maintained its monopoly in PC operating systems. Despite these strongly worded conclusions concerning Microsoft’s liability, the court was extremely cautious when it considered whether to break up the company. It held that divestiture was a “radical” remedy that should be imposed with “great caution.”

The Perfect Caper?: Private Damages And The Microsoft Case, Robert H. Lande, James Langenfeld

All Faculty Scholarship

As readers of crime novels know, there are many definitions of the perfect caper. Under most, the perpetrator gets to keep its ill-gotten gains and goes unpunished. Even if the perpetrator is arrested and brought to trial, he or she still typically escapes punishment completely due to a variety of unusual circumstances. This is essentially what Professors John E. Lopatka and William H. Page are arguing about Microsoft's actions. They assert that even though Microsoft has violated the antitrust laws, it will not be made to pay for its anticompetitive conduct, at least not by private plaintiffs.

Protecting Against International Infringements In The Digital Age Using United States Copyright Law: A Critical Analysis Of The Current State Of The Law, Brandon Dalling

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Regulation Of New Media Broadcasting In Canada Post-Icravetv.Com, 19 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 331 (2001), Danistan Saverimuthu

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Broadcasters in both the U.S. and Canada were perplexed when iCraveTV.com began intercepting American and Canadian television signals and began broadcasting them for free over the Internet. Broadcasters in Canada contend that these type of actions constitute a violation of section 3 of the Canadian Copyright Act. Provisions of section 31(2) of the Copyright Act appear to allow new media broadcasters to rebroadcast signals in return for paying a tariff, however, these criterion must be meet: the communication must be a retransmission of a local or distant signal, the transmission must be lawful under the Broadcasting Act, the signal must …

Internet Business Method Patents: The Federal Circuit Vacates The Preliminary Injunction In Amazon.Com V. Barnesandnoble.Com, 19 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 523 (2001), Sue Ann Mota

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

This article is a casenote that examines the appellate decision in Amazon.com v. Barnesandnoble.com. The first section of the article reviews the history of business method patents and the precedent case of State St. Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Fin. Group, Inc. The second section looks at the history of the Amazon.com case. The final section examines the major developments in business method patents since the Amazon.com case.

The Freedom To Link?: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act Implicates The First Amendment In Universal City Studios, Inc. V. Reimerdes, David A. Petteys

Seattle University Law Review

This Note focuses on the application of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) to prohibit the posting and linking of "circumvention technology" on the Internet, while also addressing the larger issue of the unintended consequences that regulating cyberspace can have on free expression. Because hypertext links play such a fundamental role in the utility of the Internet, this Note argues that the application of the DMCA's anti-trafficking provisions to enjoin linking places a significant and unwarranted burden on the Internet as a forum for free expression. Section II is intended to provide a brief background of the technological and legal …

Computer-Aided Drug Design Using Patented Compounds: Infringement In Cyberspace?, 34 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1001 (2001), Ted L. Field

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Icann't Use My Domain Name? The Real World Application Of Icann's Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy, 34 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1027 (2001), Karl Maersch

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Review Of Icann Domain Name Dispute Decisions, 18 Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. L.J. 35 (2001), David E. Sorkin

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Paul A. Fritzinger

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Over the last few years, the problems attendant to software licensing regulation have occupied an important position in the minds of legislators at the federal, state and local levels. In the early nineties, the National Conference of Commissioners for Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) recognized the potential for licensing problems presented by the use of computer software in the national arena as well as on the Internet and saw a clear need for regulations that would transcend state boundaries. In 1999, as a result of years of planning and careful drafting, NCCUSL promulgated the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) in …

An Overview Of The Virginia Ucita, Carlyle C. Ring Jr.

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Virginia has taken a strong and important leadership in establishing rules for the Information Highway through the Joint Committee on Technology and Science (JCOTS) and Delegate Joe T. May. Without the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) no established rules exist in common law for the Information Highway, which means that each judge must create the rules in each case as it arises. Every judge will make his own rules for the particular case. This results in great inconsistency and uncertainty adversely affecting the realization of the full potential of the Information Age economy. Governor Gilmore states: In 2000, Virginia …

Blame It On The Cybersquatters: How Congress Partially Ends The Circus Among The Circuits With The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act?, Xuan-Thao Nguyen

Articles

Congress blamed the cybersquatters for the need to pass another trademark cyberlaw. Congress enacted the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (“ACPA”) on November 29, 1999. The ACPA aimed to protect consumers and businesses, to promote the growth of electronic commerce, and to provide clarity in the law for trademark owners by prohibiting cybersquatting activities on the Internet. Prior to the enactment of the ACPA, the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (“FTDA”), which was passed by Congress in 1995 and became effective on January 16, 1996, was hailed as a powerful tool to combat cybersquatters on the Internet. That presumed powerful tool turned …

The Uncertain Future Of Fair Use In A Global Information Marketplace, Marshall Leaffer

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The author of this article forecasts an increasingly troubled future, if not the demise of the doctrine of fair use in copyright law. Legal developments, both at home and abroad, driven by technological change, and the push toward the international harmonization of legal norms, threaten the very survival of fair use. Given these realities the doctrine will, of necessity, be reconceptualized Although fair use values will always be inscribed in copyright law, these values will have their practical manifestation in decentralized form, and effectuated, in large part, through industry agreement. They will exist in conjunction with certain bright line exceptions …

Should It Be A Free For All? The Challenge Of Extending Trade Dress Protection To The Look And Feel Of Web Sites, Xuan-Thao Nguyen

Articles

In the e-commerce world, a company's web site becomes the primary communication center with the customer. The web site is where the company displays products, presents marketing materials, and provides sales and post-sales support. Increasingly, companies are spending valuable resources to build and maintain their web sites. With the rapid change in web technology, many web sites now feature more than just ordinary text. Color, clipart, graphics, designs, animations, and sounds are now part of the overall appearance of web sites. Yet copying an image from a web site is just one click away. What protection is available to the …

Peer-To-Peer Sharing On The Internet: An Analysis Of How Gnutella Networks Are Used To Distribute Pornographic Material, Michael D. Mehta, Don Best, Nancy Poon

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

By our very nature, humans are creatures that communicate and network. Over the past several decades much of this communicating and networking has been facilitated by developments in information and communication technology. The social and economic transformations resulting from developments on the Internet have created several challenges for policymakers, lawmakers, courts and a wide range of other kinds of institutions. Some of these challenges are associated with the technologies and applications themselves. Other challenges result from content made available on the Internet and how users exchange data. Recent developments in peer-to-peer data exchange bring these two sets of challenges together.

Copyright And Control Over New Technologies Of Dissemination, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

The relationship of copyright to new technologies that exploit copyrighted works is often perceived to pit copyright against progress. Historically, when copyright owners seek to eliminate a new kind of dissemination, and when courts do not deem that dissemination harmful to copyright owners, courts decline to find infringement. However, when owners seek instead to participate in and be paid for the new modes of exploitation, the courts, and Congress, appear more favorable to copyright control over that new market. Today, the courts and Congress regard the unlicensed distribution of works over the Internet as impairing copyright owners' ability to avail …

Statement Of Harvey K. Morrell, University Of Baltimore Law Library, In Opposition To The Maryland Uniform Computer Information Transfer Act, Harvey K. Morrell

All Faculty Scholarship

Testimony in opposition to the Maryland Uniform Computer Information Transfer Act, House Bill 19, Senate Bill 142, 2000.