Internet Law Commons^™

Protecting Consumers From Spyware: A Proposed Consumer Digital Trespass Act, 28 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 185 (2010), Richard G. Kunkel

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

“Spyware” is a broad term used to describe software that resides on a user’s computer and monitors the user’s online behavior. Though spyware may be helpful or benign, it can also be used for malicious purposes, commonly classified as “malware”. Consumers, who lack sophistication to avoid unintentionally downloading spyware, are especially vulnerable to the threat of malware. In lieu of this threat, it is important to understand the nature and scope of spyware problems affecting consumers. The paper will discuss how common law tort theories of trespass and trespass to chattel are difficult to apply to spyware, and how a …

Safeguarding "The Precious": Counsel On Law Journal Publication Agreements In Digital Times, 28 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 217 (2010), Michael N. Widener

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Heaping scholarship fills the academic print and online press about where legal scholars should publish and how to have one’s paper accepted for publication. But there is scarce writing about the contractual relationship between the law journal and the author of an accepted paper. This may be due in part to broadly misconstrued or ignored publication agrees, or perhaps that the business relationship is unworthy of scholarly attention. Regardless, this paper introduces a pragmatist’s perspective on evaluating and revising publication agreements, and informs student editors how publication agreements accomplish a journal’s objectives, based on current copyright law. Finally, this paper …

Interpretation & The Internet, 28 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 251 (2010), Cameron Hutchison

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Twenty years after the advent of the Internet, the revolutionary nature of the technology can no longer be in doubt. In spite of the ‘differentness” of the Internet, courts have proven adept at adapting extant law to the features and demands of this new technology. This paper will chronicle the differences between the Internet and other technologies which might, depending on the legal issue, justify the exclusion of the Internet from established rules on the basis of analogical reasoning. Two approaches to legal interpretation – literalism and purposivism—will be discussed in light of this new technology, with an explanation as …

Internet Filtering: The Ineffectiveness Of Wto Remedies And The Availability Of Alternative Tort Remedies, 28 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 273 (2010), Kristen A. Knapp

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Empirical studies have shown that government Internet filtering is increasing worldwide. Internet Service Providers have progressively begun to take on filtering responsibility in a quasi-governmental capacity. As filtering has increased, some have begun to question whether Internet filtering might violate WTO commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (“GATS Agreement”). This paper will provide technical background on how Internet filtering is accomplished in practice, and explain the GATS Agreement that was held to govern Internet filtering in the U.S.-Gambling Services decision. This paper will further survey the current range of U.S. filtering actions and detail why tort remedies …

American Exceptionalism, The French Exception, Intellectual Property Law, And Peer-To-Peer File Sharing On The Internet, 10 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 95 (2010), Lyombe Eko

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

A fundamental problem confronting policy makers is how to apply intellectual property rules and regulations developed for tangible intellectual property assets in real space to intangible,dematerialized intellectual property in cyberspace. The United States and France are self-described exceptionalist countries. American exceptionalism refers to the historical tendency of the United States to emphasize its unique status as the beacon of liberty, while l’exception française (the French exception) refers to the French ideological posture that emphasizes the specificity and superiority of French culture. American exceptionalism and l’exception française are functionally equivalent theoretical constructs that describe and explain how the United States and …

Doninger's Wedge: Has Avery Doninger Bridged The Way For Internet Versions Of Matthew Fraser?, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 439 (2010), Adam Dauksas

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Communications Decency Act And New York Times V. Sullivan: Providing Public Figure Defamation A Home On The Internet, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 491 (2010), Chris Williams

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vol. Xvii, Tab 54 - Google's Reply Motion In Further Support Of Its Motion For Summary Judgment, Google

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?

Vol. Xx, Tab 57 - Ex. 2 - Rosetta Stone's First Request For The Production Of Documents From Google, Rosetta Stone

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?

The Time And Place For "Technology-Shifting" Rights, Max Oppenheimer

All Faculty Scholarship

Intellectual property policy requires balance between the goal of motivating innovation and the need to prevent that motivation from stifling further innovation. The constitutional grant of congressional power to motivate innovation by securing "for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries" is qualified by the requirement that congressional enactments under the Intellectual Property Clause "promote progress."

The speed of technological change, particularly in the converging fields of computer software, music, video, television, and communications, coupled with the power of technology industry lobbying, have left the statutory balance tilted in favor of rewarding …

Google Analytics: Analyzing The Latest Wave Of Legal Concerns For Google In The U.S. And The E.U., 7 Buff. Intell. Prop. L.J. 135 (2010), Raizel Liebler, Keidra Chaney

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

The next wave of concern regarding Google involves web analytics. Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. The concerns of web analytics use touches on issues of online user privacy, government use of personal information, and information on website user activity. While Google Analytics is not the sole web analytics product on the market, it is widely used by corporate, non-profit, and government organizations. The product has been reported to have a 59% market share among web analytics vendors in a 2008 study.

Web analytics technology …

The New Ontologies: The Effect Of Copyright Protection On Public Scientific Data Sharing Using Semantic Web Ontologies, 10 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 181 (2010), Andrew Clearwater

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

The semantic web is going to become an important tool for scientists who need to accurately share data given context through structured relationships. The structure that defines contextual relationships on the semantic web is known as an ontology; which is a hierarchical organization of a knowledge domain that contains entities and their relations. This paper seeks to answer whether semantic web ontologies are protectable by copyright, and regardless of the outcome, what the best practices are for the scientific community. The best practices for the scientific community should include the adoption of a machine readable ontology license which disclaims copyright …

Twitter: New Challenges To Copyright Law In The Internet Age, 10 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 231 (2010), Rebecca Haas

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Twitter is part of the new wave of internet communication. It is unique because messages sent via Twitter are limited to 140 characters. Many of these messages are about mundane details of daily life, but some are creative, even literary, and may qualify for copyright protection. The problem,then, is not necessarily whether a Tweet can qualify for copyright protection, but how that protection is enforced. Current infringement policies and procedures are not designed to effectively handle copyright infringement on the internet. Internet infringement is widespread and not easy to monitor or regulate, therefore there is a need for a regulatory …

A Hole In The Need Of Mending: Copyright And The Individual Marking Of Advertisements Published In Collective Works, Randy Gordon

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

'Canada' In Electronic Evidence, Steve Coughlan

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Canada is a bilingual and bi-jurisdictional country. Most provinces and territories are mainly English speaking and have common law as the basis for their legal system. The exception is the province of Quebec which is governed by civil law and where the majority speaks French. However, it must be noted that Quebec civil law has been substantially affected by common law, in particular with respect to discovery rules. The latter are closer to common law discovery rules than they are from, for instance, French civil law. Another important factor for the review of the management of digital evidence in Canada …

Protecting The Children: Challenges That Result In, And Consequences Resulting From, Inconsistent Prosecution Of Child Pornography Cases In A Technical World, Francis S. Monterosso

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography. Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses—the malicious programs better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it’s your reputation that’s stolen. Pedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs to remotely store and view their stash without fear they’ll get caught. Pranksters or someone trying to frame you can tap viruses to make it appear that you surf illegal Web sites. Whatever the motivation, you get child porn on your computer—and …

The Expanding Duties Of Esi And In-House Counsel: Providing Defensible Preservation And Production Efforts After Swofford V. Eslinger, David W. Degnan

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

As a general rule, companies and government agencies should plan for preservation and production before litigation is probable. This means having a document retention program. These programs ensure that documents are retained or deleted in an orderly fashion. If a company properly follows its policies and procedures, this retention program acts as a “shield” against the incomplete preservation of relevant (or “hot”) documents deleted before the proper initiation of a litigation hold. If parties do not follow, or inconsistently follow, such a program, they might have to explain what happened to a missing relevant document. Thus, a retention program might …

The Darknet: A Digital Copyright Revolution, Jessica A. Wood

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

We are in the midst of a digital revolution. In this “Age of Peer Production,” armies of amateur participants demand the freedom to rip, remix, and share their own digital culture. Aided by the newest iteration of file sharing networks, digital media users now have the option to retreat underground, by using secure, private, and anonymous file sharing networks, to share freely and breathe new life into digital media. These underground networks, collectively termed “the Darknet[,] will grow in scope, resilience, and effectiveness in direct proportion to [increasing] digital restrictions the public finds untenable.” The Darknet has been called the …

Introduction: Contains Cover, Table Of Contents, Letter From The Editor, And Masthead, Nancy Porcari

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

The Richmond Journal of Law and Technology is proud to present our Annual Survey issue, the third issue of the 2009–2010 academic year.

Making The Punishment Fit The (Computer) Crime: Rebooting Notions Of Possession For The Federal Sentencing Of Child Pornography Offenses, Jelani Jefferson Exum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Sexual exploitation of children is a real and disturbing problem. However, when it comes to the sentencing of child pornography possessors, the U.S. federal system has a problem, as well. This Article adds to the current, heated discussion on what is happening in the sentencing of federal child pornography possession offenses, why nobody is satisfied, and how much the Federal Sentencing Guidelines are to blame. At the heart of this Article are the forgotten players in the discussion—computers and the Internet—and their role in changing the realities of child pornography possession. This Article argues that computers and the Internet …

The Canadian Public Domain: What, Where, And To What End?, Carys J. Craig

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In this article, I explore the important body of scholarship that has emerged over this time on the substance, nature, and role of the public domain. I offer some concrete definitions of the public domain in the copyright context, identify some ongoing sources of debate in the literature, and highlight some particularly significant voices in public domain discourse. In doing so, my aim is twofold: first, I mean to present a fairly comprehensive, but concise, review of this academic movement that has been directed towards substantiating and politicizing the concept of the public domain; and second, I hope to re-situate …

Fessing Up To Facebook: Recent Trends In The Use Of Social Network Websites For Civil Litigation, Pamela D. Pengelley

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

For professional “fact-gatherers” such as lawyers, insurance adjusters, claims handlers and private investigators, the vast wealth of information that people volunteer on Facebook can be a goldmine or a smoking gun, depending on your perspective. The personal information contained in a Facebook profile may be highly relevant to matters at issue in litigation; when dealing with claims, particularly in the personal injury context, the information contained on a Facebook page can make or break a case. It is, therefore, crucial that legal and insurance professionals stay informed of new developments in this emerging area of law. This article, written with …

Google Adwords And Canadian Trademark Law, Reed W. Taubner

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article aims to answer two questions: should business competitors be allowed to use each other’s goodwill in this way and, if so, can trademark law police the program without stifling competition? Part I examines the technical aspects of the AdWords program. Part II explores the underlying rationales of trademark law to start developing a normative position. Part III reviews the American jurisprudence and commentary to hone that normative position and to identify a compatible legal framework. Part IV compares that framework against Canadian law.

This article endorses the work of Misha Gregory Macaw who, unlike some trademark expansionists, argues …

Book Review: E-Discovery In Canada, Robert J. Currie

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

It is not hyperbolic to say that the proliferation of electronically stored information (ESI) is probably the most prominent change-harbinger and potential havoc-wreaker in civil litigation today — second only, perhaps, to the spiralling costs of litigation itself. Indeed, the practical and legal difficulties associated with the storage, gathering, preservation, disclosure and evidentiary use of ESI have the potential to act as a Trojan Horse, causing what would previously have been ordinary cases to implode under their weight. Increasing recognition of this is evident; electronic discovery (e-discovery) cases have begun to emerge in the reports, a successful co-operative effort by …

Downloading Personhood: A Hegelian Theory Of Copyright Law, Karla M. O'Regan

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article will examine these responses, identifying the competing interests at work in both traditional copyright schemes and contemporary Internet-based criticisms, and put forth a theory of copyright law capable of ad- dressing the needs of these rival interests in an advanced technological era.

Part I delineates some of the more prominent theories copyright scholars have offered in response to the “IP-IT crisis.” Part II attempts to identify the source of these problems by first examining conventional justifications for copyright and the competing interests inherently at work in its conception. Part III identifies three specific factors I argue are particularly …

Groundwork For Assessing The Legal Risks Of Cyberjustice, François Senécal, Karim Benyekhlef

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

It is clear that the use of information technology is quickly becoming a necessity for the justice system. In civil cases, delays and costs are causing individuals to abandon the courts, and cases that make it to trial are of ever-increasing complexity. Moreover, public security is weakened by the inefficient and cumbersome conditions by which criminal justice information circulates among the various stakeholders, such as the police, prosecutors, the courts, penitentiaries and parole boards, to name only a few. It becomes apparent that information technology has much to offer individuals involved in court cases and the justice system as a …

Strong Medicine: Patents, Market, And Policy Challenges For Managing Neglected Diseases And Affordable Prescription Drugs, Taiwo A. Oriola

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The article is divided into six parts. Part one deals with the introduction, part two discusses the evolution of modern medicine and the socio-economic dynamics that shape the current prescription drug economics, part three discusses the pharmaceutical costs conundrum, part four analyses neglected diseases and the scale of the problem, part five discusses the role of patents on the pharmaceuticals costs trajectory and reviews literature on possible alternatives to promoting incentives for pharmaceuticals R&D, and part six sums up the discourse and reiterates the solutions to the problems identified.

The Patentability Of Electromagnetic And Acoustic Signals In Canada, Natalie Raffoul

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The issue of the patentability of electromagnetic and acoustic signals has not been litigated in Canada. If, however, the issue does come forward for litigation, Canadian courts may decide differently than their American colleagues did. The Supreme Court of Canada’s ‘Harvard Mouse’ decision shows that the Canadian law on patentable subject matter differs from American law. Under the Canadian definition of manufacture, electromagnetic and acoustic signals could constitute patentable subject matter.

A New Approach To Data Security Breaches, Gideon Emcee Christian

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article examines the problems associated with data security breaches from two different, but not mutually exclusive, perspectives. The first part of the article examines the need for notification in the event of a data security breach and proposes an amendment of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA) to create a legal, or statutory, obligation in Canada to compel disclosure or notification of data security breaches. My recommendations are based on the examination of legislation from other legal jurisdictions, highlighting, where necessary, the shortcomings of the legislation, which ought to be taken into consideration in amending PIPEDA …

Information Privacy In Public Space: Location Data, Data Protection And The Reasonable Expectation Of Privacy, Teresa Scassa

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article considers whether the permissive disclosure provisions of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and its substantially similar counterparts mean that law enforcement agents have ready access to information about our movements and activities, or whether s. 8 of the Charter plays a role in limiting the circumstances in which disclosure without notice or consent may take place.