Internet Law Commons^™

Justice, And Only Justice, You Shall Pursue: Network Neutrality, The First Amendment And John Rawls's Theory Of Justice, Amit M. Schejter, Moran Yemini

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

As broadband becomes the public's technology of choice to access the Internet, it is also emerging as the battlefield upon which the struggle for control of the Internet is being fought. Operators who provide physical access to the service claim the right to discriminate among the content providers who use the infrastructure in which the operators have invested. In contrast, content providers warn that exercising such a policy would "undermine the principles that have made the Internet such a success."[...] For academic observers, analysis of this issue has thus far been confined to the areas of property law, innovation, and …

Perfect Enforcement Of Law: When To Limit And When To Use Technology, Christina Mulligan

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Keeping The Internet Neutral?: Tim Wu And Christopher Yoo Debate, Tim Wu, Christopher S. Yoo

Faculty Scholarship

"Net neutrality" has been among the leading issues of telecommunications policy this decade. Is the neutrality of the Internet fundamental to its success, and worth regulating to protect, or simply a technical design subject to improvement? In this debate-form commentary, Tim Wu and Christopher Yoo make clear the connection between net neutrality and broader issues of national telecommunications policy.

Cope-Ing With The Future: An Examination Of The Potential Copyright Liability Of Non-Neutral Networks For Infringing Internet Content, Alex Pisarevsky

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Anonymity On The Internet: How Does It Work, Who Needs It, And What Are Its Policy Implications?, Eric J. Stieglitz

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Performance Anxiety: The Internet And Copyright's Vanishing Performance/Distribution Distinction, Jonah M. Knobler

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Striking A Balance Between Protecting Civil Rights And Free Speech On The Internet: The Fair Housing Act Vs. The Communications Decency Act, Rachel Kurth

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Wireless Carterfone, Tim Wu

Faculty Scholarship

Over the next decade, regulators will spend increasing time on conflicts between the private interests of the wireless industry and the public’s interest in the best uses of its spectrum. This report examines the practices of the wireless industry with an eye toward understanding their influence on innovation and consumer welfare.

In many respects, the mobile wireless market is and remains a wonder. Thanks to both policy and technological innovations, devices that were science fiction 30 years ago are now widely available. Over the last decade, wireless mobile has been an “infant industry,” attempting to achieve economies of scale. That …

Network Stories, Julie E. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In 1962, Rachel Carson named the natural environment. Scientists were beginning to understand the complex web of ecological cause and effect; naming that web gave it independent existence and invested that existence with political meaning. In 1996, James Boyle named the cultural environment. Boyle’s act of naming was intended to jumpstart a political movement by appropriating the complex web of political meaning centered on the interdependency of environmental resources.

But naming, although important, is only a beginning. The example of the natural environment shows us that to build from a name to a movement requires two things. First, you have …

Calling All Angles: Perspectives On Regulating Internet Telephony, Melissa Winberg

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In 1996, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act, substantially revising the Communications Act of 1934 to reflect technological advances, including the Internet, and Congress's deregulatory goals. Currently, however, new technologies are challenging the viability of the statutory definitions and regulatory schemes of the statute. Internet telephony, commonly called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is both a replacement for traditional telephone service and a new web-based technology. Given the current competitive political climate and the magnitude of the interests involved, Congress is unlikely to succeed in altering the telecommunications regime. Thus, the Federal Communications Commission, which has the authority to regulate interstate …

Should Property Or Liability Rules Govern Information?, Mark A. Lemley, Philip J. Weiser

Publications

This Article focuses on an unappreciated and significant aspect of the debate over property rules in the technology law context. In particular, it argues that the classic justification for legal entitlements protected by a property rule - i.e., a right to injunctive relief - depends on the ability to define and enforce property rights effectively. In the case of many technology markets, the inability to tailor injunctive relief so that it protects only the underlying right rather than also enjoining noninfringing conduct provides a powerful basis for using a liability rule (i.e., awarding the relevant damages to the plaintiff) instead …

The Legal Status Of Spyware, Daniel B. Garrie, Alan F. Blakley, Mathew J. Armstrong

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article examines the legal status of Spyware under federal and common law in the United States of America. The Authors begin with a technical overview of Spyware technology, which covers Spyware's functionality, methods of dispersion, and classification. The Authors then analyze the treatment of Spyware under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Wiretap Act, and under general tort claims of trespass to chattels, invasion of privacy, and intrusion upon seclusion. The Authors conclude that none of the aformentioned causes of action provide an adequate remedy at law for Spyware victims. Moreover, the Authors note …

Hit And Miss: Leverage, Sacrifice, And Refusal To Deal In The Supreme Court Decision In Trinko, Nicholas Economides

ExpressO

Under the rules of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, incumbent local exchange carriers, including Verizon, were obligated to lease parts of their local telecommunications network to any firm at “cost plus a reasonable profit” prices which could combine them at will, add retailing services and sell local telecommunication service as a rival to the incumbent. AT&T, an entrant in local telecommunications, leased parts of Verizon’s network. Trinko, a local telecommunications services customer of AT&T, sued Verizon alleging various anti-competitive actions of Verizon against AT&T, including that Verizon raised the costs of AT&T, its downstream retail rival. The Supreme Court held …

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.

Network Neutrality Or Bias?--Handicapping The Odds For A Tiered And Branded Internet, Robert M. Frieden

ExpressO

Recent double digit billion dollar mergers of telecommunications firms consolidate both market share and market leadership by incumbent operators such as Verizon. These companies seek to exploit technological and market convergence by offering a triple play package of wired and wireless telephone service, video and Internet access. As well they need to develop new profit centers to compensate for declining revenues and market shares in traditional services such as wireline telephony.

While incumbent telecommunications operators have pursued new market opportunities, these ventures have not abandoned core management philosophies, operating assumptions and business strategies. Longstanding strategies for recovering investments, using a …

Information Privacy As A Function Of Facial Recognition Technology And Wearable Computers, Woodrow Barfield

ExpressO

As technological advances are made in the design of smart sensors, the issue of privacy in public places, first discussed by Warren and Brandeis in 1890, becomes an important topic for law and policy. This paper examines issues of privacy that are impacted when an individual’s image is recorded by a video-based wearable computer, analyzed using facial recognition software, and uploaded to the internet. While the Constitutional basis of search and seizure law for individual’s placed under video surveillance is reviewed, a particular focus of the paper is on a less investigated but emerging area of concern, the video recording …

Unwarranted Fears Mask The Benefits Of Network Diversity: An Argument Against Mandating Network Neutrality, Elvis Stumbergs

ExpressO

The rapid development of the Internet has necessitated an update to Federal telecommunications laws. Recent Congressional efforts to enact such an update, however, have spawned a fiery debate over a somewhat nebulous concept: network neutrality. The debate concerns the way that Internet access providers handle the data traffic being sent over their networks. These providers would like the option to offer some of their customers, web site hosting companies and similar entities, additional services that would essentially result in these customers’ content loading faster, more reliably, or more securely than others not receiving such priority treatment. Yet, this proposed “diversity” …

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.

Access To Audiences As A First Amendment Right: Its Relevance And Implications For Electronic Media Policy, Philip M. Napoli, Sheea T. Sybblis

ExpressO

When the issue of speakers’ rights of access arises in media regulation and policy contexts, the focus typically is on the concept of speakers’ rights of access “to the media,” or “to the press.” This right usually is premised on the audience’s need for access to diverse sources and content. In contrast, in many non-mediated contexts, the concept of speakers’ rights of access frequently is defined in terms of the speaker’s own First Amendment right of access to audiences. This paper explores the important distinctions between these differing interpretations of a speaker’s access rights and argues that the concept of …

Rivalrous Telecommunications Networks With And Without Mandatory Sharing, Thomas W. Hazlett

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Interconnection Policy And Technological Progress, Gerald W. Brock

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

'Wi-Fi'ght Them When You Can Join Them? How The Philadelphia Compromise May Have Saved Municipally-Owned Telecommunications Services, Adam Christensen

Federal Communications Law Journal

When the Mayor of Philadelphia announced his plan to provide municipally sponsored Wi-Fi Internet access, Verizon, the incumbent telecommunications service provider organized lobbyists to block the plan. The compromise eventually struck between Pennsylvania municipalities and Verizon, which allows municipalities to offer telecommunications services after giving Verizon a right of first refusal has resulted in a certain degree of uncertainty in the future of municipally sponsored Internet access. This Note examines this compromise and argues that it represents an optimistic future for municipally sponsored telecommunications services. The Note first discusses the history of Wi-Fi technology and the development of the law …

Opening Bottlenecks: On Behalf Of Mandated Network Neutrality, Bill D. Herman

ExpressO

This paper calls for mandated “network neutrality,” the principle that broadband service providers (BSPs) should generally treat all nondestructive data equally. Without such a mandate, BSPs will likely begin charging content providers for the right to send data at the fastest speeds available. The present frequency with which BSPs block some data entirely will also likely increase.

Neutral networks are preferable for two key reasons. First, they spawn innovation, as illustrated by the explosive online innovation to date. Second, neutral networks better distribute communication power, promoting First Amendment values. Extant and likely future acts of discrimination erode both goals. The …

On-Line But Out Of Touch: Analyzing International Dispute Resolution Through The Lens Of The Internet, Benjamin J.C. Wolf

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note explores the evolution and challenges of international dispute resolution, particularly arbitration, in the context of the internet's impact on global trade. It highlights how arbitration, while effective, faces new complexities such as jurisdictional disputes and enforcement difficulties due to the internet's borderless nature. The author argues that while arbitration remains a vital method for resolving international disputes, it must adapt to the unique challenges posed by digital transactions to ensure continued effectiveness.

Regulatory Status Of Voip In The Post-Brand X World, Jerry Ellig

ExpressO

During the past several years, the Federal Communications Commission has engaged in a series of rulemakings to determine the regulatory status of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The Supreme Court’s Brand X decision clarifies that even if the FCC’s determination conflicts with that of a court, the FCC’s judgment holds sway as long as the decision is reasonable. We believe that VoIP should be classified as an information service, rather than a telecommunications service, for several reasons. First, the Internet Protocol nature of VoIP technology means that it functions like an information service, rather than a telecommunications service. Second, in …

Relative Access To Corrective Speech: A New Test For Requiring Actual Malice, Aaron Perzanowski

Articles

This Article reexamines the First Amendment protections provided by the public figure doctrine. It suggests that the doctrine is rooted in a set of out-dated assumptions regarding the media landscape and, as a result, has failed to adapt in a manner that accounts for our changing communications environment.

The public figure doctrine, which imposes the more rigorous actual malice standard of fault on defamation plaintiffs who enjoy greater access to mass media, was constructed in an era defined by one-to-many communications media. Newspapers, broadcasters, and traditional publishers exhausted the Court's understanding of the means of communicating with mass audiences. As …

Race, Media Consolidation, And Online Content: The Lack Of Substitutes Available To Media Consumers Of Color, Leonard M. Baynes

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In its 2003 media ownership proceedings, the FCC relied on the existence of the Internet to provide justification for radically relaxing the FCC ownership rules. These rules limited the national audience reach of the broadcast licensees and the cross-ownership of different media properties by broadcasters and newspapers. In relaxing these rules, the FCC failed to recognize that a media submarket for African Americans and Latinos/as existed. This separate market is evidenced by the different television viewing habits of African Americans and Latinos/as as compared to Whites and Billboard magazine's delineation of R&B/urban music radio stations as a separate radio station …

Not From Concentrate? Media Regulation At The Turn Of The Millennium M Arch 18-19, 2005, Journal Of Law Reform

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Transcript from a March 2005 Symposium held in the University of Michigan Law School, Hutchins Hall.

Network Neutrality: Competition, Innovation, And Nondiscriminatory Access, Tim Wu

Faculty Scholarship

The best proposals for network neutrality rules are simple. They ban abusive behavior like tollboothing and outright blocking and degradation. And they leave open legitimate network services that the Bells and Cable operators want to provide, such as offering cable television services and voice services along with a neutral internet offering. They are in line with a tradition of protecting consumer's rights on networks whose instinct is just this: let customers use the network as they please. No one wants to deny companies the right to charge for their services and charge consumers more if they use more. But what …

Seeking Privacy: Examining A Role For The Fiduciary In Protecting Personal Information, Marcey L. Grigsby

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.