Internet Law Commons^™

Developmental Implications Of Children's Virtual Worlds, Kaveri Subrahmanyam

Washington and Lee Law Review

As virtual worlds for children increase in popularity, it is important to examine their developmental implications. Given the limited research on this question, we use extant social science research on youth and digital media to understand how children 's participation in virtual worlds might mediate their development. We identify four different pathways by which new media can potentially mediate development. Then we review relevant research on video games, which, like virtual worlds, contain three-dimensional online fantasy worlds; we also review research on online communication forums, which are like virtual worlds in that they allow users to create online selves and …

Fertility And Virtual Reality, Edward Castronova

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sex Play In Virtual Worlds, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Virtual Parentalism, Joshua A.T. Fairfield

Washington and Lee Law Review

Parents, not Laws, ultimately protect children both online and offline. If legislation places adults at legal risk because of the presence of children in virtual worlds, adults will exit those worlds, and children will be isolated into separate spaces. This will not improve safety for children. Instead, this Article suggests that Congress enact measures that encourage filtering technology and parental tools that will both protect children in virtual worlds, and protectfree speech online.

Virtual Heisenberg: The Limits Of Virtual World Regulability, Viktor Mayer-Schonberger

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting Children In Virtual Worlds Without Undermining Their Economic, Educational, And Social Benefits, Robert Bloomfield, Benjamin Duranske

Washington and Lee Law Review

Advances in virtual world technology pose risks for the safety and welfare of children. Those advances also alter the interpretations of key terms in applicable Laws. For example, in the Miller test for obscenity, virtual worlds constitute places, rather than "works," and may even constitute local communities from which standards are drawn. Additionally, technological advances promise to make virtual worlds places of such significant social benefit that regulators must take care to protect them, even as they protect children who engage with them.

Vol. Ix, Tab 41 - Ex. 17 - Email From Baris Gultekin (Google Product Manager Director), Baris Gultekin

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?

Saving Facebook, James Grimmelmann

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article provides the first comprehensive analysis of the law and policy of privacy on social network sites, using Facebook as its principal example. It explains how Facebook users socialize on the site, why they misunderstand the risks involved, and how their privacy suffers as a result. Facebook offers a socially compelling platform that also facilitates peer-to-peer privacy violations: users harming each others' privacy interests. These two facts are inextricably linked; people use Facebook with the goal of sharing some information about themselves. Policymakers cannot make Facebook completely safe, but they can help people use it safely.

The Article makes …

The Google Book Search Settlement: Ends, Means, And The Future Of Books, James Grimmelmann

Faculty Scholarship

For the past four years, Google has been systematically making digital copies of books in the collections of many major university libraries. It made the digital copies searchable through its web site--you couldn't read the books, but you could at least find out where the phrase you're looking for appears within them. This outraged copyright owners, who filed a class action lawsuit to make Google stop. Then, last fall, the parties to this large class action announced an even larger settlement: one that would give Google a license not only to scan books, but also to sell them.

The settlement …

How To Fix The Google Book Search Settlement, James Grimmelmann

Faculty Scholarship

The proposed settlement in the Google Book Search case should be approved with strings attached. The project will be immensely good for society, and the proposed deal is a fair one for Google, for authors, and for publishers. The public interest demands, however, that the settlement be modified first. It creates two new entities—the Books Rights Registry Leviathan and the Google Book Search Behemoth—with dangerously concentrated power over the publishing industry. Left unchecked, they could trample on consumers in any number of ways. We the public have a right to demand that those entities be subject to healthy, pro-competitive oversight, …

The Ginsburg Group: Technology: How To Stay Out Of Court, Jennifer Ballard, Lee Maglinger, Alisha Orosz, Mandy Skinner, Kevin Thomas

Parameters of Law in Student Affairs and Higher Education (CNS 670)

For professionals in higher education, it is our responsibility to stay on top of the ever changing landscape of technology at our colleges and universities. In order to provide the best and most convenient services, it is our objective to continue to expand the walls of higher education into the global boundaries of technology. For the purpose of this paper, the Ginsburg Group has focused on five different areas regarding the use of technology. In these areas, the information provided is our thoughts and best advice in how institutions of higher learning can avoid the courtroom. The following pages will …

Vol. Viii, Tab 39 - Ex. 4 - Naso News, 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?

Breathing New Life Into Old Technological Infrastructure: Broadband Internet As A Means Of Jump-Starting The Economy And Connecting The Country, Elizabeth Chernow

Celebrating WCL Student Authors

This paper examines the current structure of universal service and the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, recent pushes to expand the definition of and funding for universal service to include broadband access, and how broadband internet can contribute to saving the ailing economy. The paper concludes by calling for the inclusion of broadband internet in the Universal Service Fund.

Current financial support for the Universal Service Fund is problematic in that only telecommunications carriers providing interstate services are required to contribute to the fund. The author maintains that the contribution base should be expanded to include companies providing broadband internet access. …

Vol. Ix, Tab 43 - Google Memorandum In Support Of Its Motion To Exclude Expert Report And Opinion Of Dr. Kent Van Liere, 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?

Safe Haven No More: How Online Affiliate Marketing Programs Can Minimize New State Sales Tax Liability, Jennifer Heidt White

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Affiliate marketing has become a popular and profitable way for online merchants to access potential buyers, especially where those merchants lack a physical presence in the buyer’s home state. By increasing market penetration and brand recognition, affiliates have contributed to the growth of e-commerce and, consequently, the growth of untaxed electronic purchases. As a result, affiliates recently became the focus of states looking to capture lost sales tax revenue from online sales. In 2008, New York became the first state to target affiliate marketing programs with a tax amendment that requires out-of-state vendors that solicit more than $10,000 worth of …

Privacy, Accountability, And The Cooperating Defendant: Towards A New Role For Internet Access To Court Records, Caren M. Morrison

Vanderbilt Law Review

Now that federal court records are available online, anyone can obtain criminal case files instantly over the Internet. But this unfettered flow of information is in fundamental tension with many goals of the criminal justice system, including the integrity of criminal investigations, the accountability of prosecutors, and the security of witnesses. It has also altered the behavior of prosecutors intent on protecting the identity of cooperating defendants who assist them in investigating other targets. As prosecutors and courts collaborate to obscure the process by which cooperators are recruited and rewarded, Internet availability risks degrading the value of the information obtained …

A Study Of Cyber-Violence And Internet Service Providers' Liability: Lessons From China, Anne S.Y. Cheung

Washington International Law Journal

Cyber-violence and harassment have been on the rise and have been a worrying trend worldwide. With the rise of blogs, discussion boards, and Youtube, we may become targets of false allegations or our movements and gestures may have been captured by modern technology at any moment to be broadcast on the Internet for a public trial of millions to judge. In China, netizens have resorted to cyber manhunt, known as the “human flesh search engine,” to expose details of individuals who have violated social norms one way or another, achieving social shaming, monitoring and ostracism. Individuals concerned have little legal …

The Life Of The Mind And A Life Of Meaning: Reflections On Fahrenheit 451, Rodney A. Smolla

Michigan Law Review

Fahrenheit 451 still speaks to us, vibrantly and passionately, still haunts and vexes and disturbs. The novel has sold millions of copies, was reset for a fiftieth anniversary printing, and continues to be assigned reading in middle school, high school, and college courses. That power to endure is well worth contemplation, both for what it says about Ray Bradbury's literary imagination, and, more powerfully, for what it teaches us about our recent past, our present, and our own imagined future. First Amendment jurisprudence has taken giant leaps since Fahrenheit 451 was written, and American society has managed to avoid the …

Rationing The Infinite, Leonard M. Niehoff

Michigan Law Review

This Review raises a number of objections to Baker's arguments and proposals. Furthermore, this Review raises the fundamental question of whether Baker's central operating assumption-that media is a scarce resource that should be fairly distributed-remains timely in light of the far-reaching and fast-paced changes wrought by the internet. Nevertheless, this Review also recognizes that, as with Baker's prior works, Media Concentration and Democracy makes a serious contribution to the discussion of the political, social, and economic dynamics that challenge the existence of a strong and independent media. Media Concentration and Democracy does a better job of raising questions than of …

The Riaa, The Dmca, And The Forgotten Few Webcasters: A Call For Change In Digital Copyright Royalties, Kellen Myers

Federal Communications Law Journal

Emerging webcasting technology is playing an increasing role in modem society. The ease of use of webcast technology has brought about an increased user base as well as an increased viability for small webcasting businesses. However, the mix-tape genre of independent Internet radio has been financially and legislatively abused as a forerunner of rapidly advancing digital technology and concerns over protecting copyright royalties. This Note argues for a revision of the DMCA to provide a middle ground between protecting copyrighted works and allowing the continued existence of Internet radio.

User Privacy And Information Disclosure: The Need For Clarity In "Opt-In" Questions For Consent To Share Personal Information, Suzanna Shaub

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Many company Web sites obtain permission to disclose their users’ private information to third parties through the use of “opt-in” mechanisms, which require consumers to affirmatively grant consent to collect data from the user. These opt-in questions often ask general questions, such as whether the user would like to receive further information about the company or a product. Many companies construe an affirmative answer as consent to disclose personal information in accordance with its privacy policy. Although companies with this practice have generally avoided liability in the past, a recent case raises significant skepticism regarding the practice. In CollegeNET, Inc. …

Virtually Liable, Garrett Legerwood

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Korea's Role In The War Against Online Piracy, Edward Choi

San Diego International Law Journal

South Korea is one of the most Internet-savvy countries in the world, with more than 34 million Koreans over the age of six—74.8% of the total population—regularly accessing the Internet. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as of June 2007, South Korea has the fourth largest number of broadband subscribers at over 14.4 million, behind only Japan, Germany, and the United States, all of which have much higher populations. Studies show the time Koreans spend online is primarily for entertainment purposes, as almost 80% of Korean Internet users report online consumption of audio and video, almost …

Run For The Border: Laptop Searches And The Fourth Amendment, Nathan Alexander Sales

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cyber Civil Rights, Danielle K. Citron

Faculty Scholarship

Social networking sites and blogs have increasingly become breeding grounds for anonymous online groups that attack women, people of color, and members of other traditionally disadvantaged groups. These destructive groups target individuals with defamation, threats of violence, and technology-based attacks that silence victims and concomitantly destroy their privacy. Victims go offline or assume pseudonyms to prevent future attacks, impoverishing online dialogue and depriving victims of the social and economic opportunities associated with a vibrant online presence. Attackers manipulate search engines to reproduce their lies and threats for employers and clients to see, creating digital "scarlet letters" that ruin reputations. Today's …

Cyberthreats: The Emerging Fault Lines Of The Nation State, Susan W. Brenner

School of Law Faculty Publications

As new technologies develop, terrorist groups are developing new methods of attack by using the Internet, and by using cyberspace as a battlefield, it has become increasingly difficult to discover the identity of attackers and bring them to justice. The seemingly limitless boundaries of cyberspace have allowed virtually anyone to launch an attack from a remote and anonymous location. But once these attacks occur, it raises several important questions. Who should respond, and how? How should nation-states effectively deal with a cyber-attack? Will the United States and other nation-states be able to survive in a world where virtual boundaries are …

Law's Expressive Value In Combating Cyber Gender Harassment, Danielle Keats Citron

Faculty Scholarship

The online harassment of women exemplifies twenty-first century behavior that profoundly harms women yet too often remains overlooked and even trivialized. This harassment includes rape threats, doctored photographs portraying women being strangled, postings of women’s home addresses alongside suggestions that they should be sexually assaulted and technological attacks that shut down blogs and websites. It impedes women’s full participation in online life, often driving them offline, and undermines their autonomy, identity, dignity, and well-being. But the public and law enforcement routinely marginalize women’s experience, deeming it harmless teasing that women should expect, and tolerate, given the Internet’s Wild West norms …

Internet Defamation As Profit Center: The Monetization Of Online Harassment, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

Efforts to decrease the sexist aspects of online fora have been largely ineffective, and in some instances seemingly counterproductive, in the sense that they have provoked even greater amounts of abuse and harassment with a gendered aspect. And so, in the wake of a series of high profile episodes of cyber sexual harassment, and a grotesque abundance of low profile ones, a new business model was launched. Promising to clean up and monitor online information to defuse the visible impact of coordinated harassment campaigns, a number of entities began to market themselves as knights in cyber shining armor, ready to …

Virtual Property Problem: What Property Rights In Virtual Resources Might Look Like, How They Might Work, And Why They Are A Bad Idea, The, John William Nelson

McGeorge Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Contract Negotiations No Longer Protect Your Business Interests: The Strange World Of Third Party Business Interests Under Freedom Of Information Legislation, 26 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 455 (2009), Emir Aly Crowne-Mohammed

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Freedom of information legislation is designed to promote access to governmental information. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act of British Columbia (“BC Act”) is no different. The BC Act views access to governmental information as promoting democracy, transparency, and citizenry, thereby making “public bodies more accountable to the public and…protect[ing] personal privacy by…giving the public a right of access to records” inter alia. The right to access governmental information, however, is not unfettered. There are certain protected instances where the public good may actually be harmed by undue access to governmental information such as policy recommendations developed …