Internet Law Commons^™

E-Obviousness, Glynn S. Lunney Jr.

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

As patents expand into e-commerce and methods of doing business more generally, both the uncertainty and the risk of unjustified market power that the present approach generates suggest a need to rethink our approach to nonobviousness. If courts fail to enforce the nonobviousness requirement and allow an individual to obtain a patent for simply implementing existing methods of doing business through a computer, even where only trivial technical difficulties are presented, entire e-markets might be handed over to patent holders with no concomitant public benefit. If courts attempt to enforce the nonobviousness requirement, but leave undefined the extent of the …

Cybersmear Or Cyber-Slapp: Analyzing Defamation Suits Against Online John Does As Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, Joshua R. Furman

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment will first survey the law of cybersmear, illustrating the paradigmatic issues and legal theories employed. Then, it will discuss the free speech issues and theoretical bases argued in court and legal journals, paying special attention to the shortcomings in current protection of defendant anonymity. Next, it will examine the value of online anonymity and the protections that the Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) theory offers. Finally, given the breakdown in the public and private space dichotomy, this Comment will argue for a new understanding of the SLAPP constitutional protections in cyberspace. This understanding will recognize the powerful …

Yahoo And Democracy On The Internet, Joel R. Reidenberg

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the French court order requiring Yahoo to prevent French Internet users from accessing images of Nazi memorabilia available for auction on the company's American web site. The article uses the French case to challenge the popular belief that an entirely borderless Internet favors democratic values. The article starts from the premise that while the Internet enables actors to reach a geographically dispersed audience, the Internet should not change the accountability of those actors for their conduct within national borders. The article shows that Yahoo's extensive business in France justifies the application of France's democratically chosen law and …

Fool Us Once Shame On You—Fool Us Twice Shame On Us: What We Can Learn From The Privatizations Of The Internet Backbone Network And The Domain Name System, Jay P. Kesan, Rajiv C. Shah

Washington University Law Review

One goal of this Article is to describe and document the privatization processes for the backbone network and the DNS. We initially assumed the privatization of the Internet consisted of a simple shift from a subsidized network to a competitive market for backbone services. However, we found the privatization process to be quite complex and problematic. Unfortunately, many of these same problems are reoccurring in the current privatization of the DNS. Our study found three categories of problems that occurred during the privatizations of the Internet’s backbone network and the DNS: procedural problems, problems with the management of competition, and …

Introduction: From Sheet Music To Mp3 Files—A Brief Perspective On Napster, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The Napster case is the current cause celebre of the digital age. The story has color. It involves music-sharing technology invented by an eighteen-year-old college dropout whose high school classmates nicknamed him "The Napster" on account of his perpetually kinky hair. The story has drama. Depending on your perspective, it pits rapacious big music companies against poor and hardworking students who just want to enjoy some tunes; or it pits creative and industrious music companies seeking a fair return on their invested effort, time, and money against greedy and irreverent music thieves. And the case has importance. Music maybe intellectual …

Contracting On The Web: Collegiate Athletes And Sports Agents Confront A New Hurdle In Closing The Deal, Manpreet S. Dhanjal

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

A Symposium Précis, Thomas E. Baker

Faculty Publications

This article is an introduction to and overview of the Drake University Law School symposium The Constitution and the Internet, held in February of 2001. It highlights important issues including the Constitution and the Internet, civil liberty and the application of a 200 year old document to the modern age of rapidly changing technology.

E-Commerce And Trans-Atlantic Privacy, Joel R. Reidenberg

Faculty Scholarship

For almost a decade, the United States and Europe have anticipated a clash over the protection of personal information. Between the implementation in Europe of comprehensive legal protections pursuant to the directive on data protection and the continued reliance on industry self-regulation in the United States, trans-Atlantic privacy policies have been at odds with each other. The rapid growth in e-commerce is now sparking the long-anticipated trans-Atlantic privacy clash. This Article will first look at the context of American e-commerce and the disjuncture between citizens' privacy and business practices. The Article will then turn to the international context and explore …

Annotating The News: Mitigating The Effects Of Media Convergence And Consolidation, Eric Easton

All Faculty Scholarship

This essay is a personal inquiry into the nature of media technology, law, and ethics in an era marked by the convergence of media that have been largely separate-print, broadcast, cable, satellite, and the Internet-and by the consolidation of ownership in all of these media. What inventions, practices, and norms must emerge to enable us to take advantage of this vast new information-based world, while preserving such important professional values as diversity, objectivity, reliability, and independence?

The right to know belongs not only to individuals, but to the public at large, it can (or, perhaps, must) be vindicated by government …

Www/Legaleducation.Edu: Using Technology To Educate The Public, Stephen M. Johnson

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

The Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine And Trademark Infringement On The Intemet, Byrce J. Maynard

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

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

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Electronic Billboards Along The Information Superhighway: Liability Under The Lanham Act For Using Trademarks To Key Internet Banner Ads, Christine Galbraith Davik

Faculty Publications

With almost one billion web pages on the Internet today, a search engine is a necessity at times. But search engines are also for-profit ventures and the financial success of these sites hinges on advertising revenue. One of the ways in which these sites generate income is by selling “keywords” to advertisers. Although there has been only one judicial decision – Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Netscape Communications – involving banner ads keyed to trademarks, it will undoubtedly not be the last. This article argues that despite the invisible nature of this unauthorized trademark use, the common practice of keying a …

Establishing A Legitimate Expectation Of Privacy In Clickstream Data, Gavin Skok

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

This Article argues that Web users should enjoy a legitimate expectation of privacy in clickstream data. Fourth Amendment jurisprudence as developed over the last half-century does not support an expectation of privacy. However, reference to the history of the Fourth Amendment and the intent of its drafters reveals that government investigation and monitoring of clickstream data is precisely the type of activity the Framers sought to limit. Courts must update outdated methods of expectation of privacy analysis to address the unique challenges posed by the Internet in order to fulfill the Amendment's purpose. Part I provides an overview of the …

Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth: An Analysis Of Free Internet Stock Offerings, Joel Michael Schwarz

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

How much should an investor pay for one share of stock in Yahoo? Or a share of stock in America Online? As publicly traded companies, one need only consult the stock charts in any local newspaper to determine the value the market has placed on these shares. Despite what many Internet sector analysts have professed to be astronomically high valuations, these publicly traded companies possess easily verifiable valuations determined by the free market forces that constitute the building blocks of our economy, and safeguarded by the oversight of federal regulators such as the Securities & Exchange Commission ("SEC"). But what …

Plotting The Return Of An Ancient Tort To Cyberspace: Towards A New Federal Standard Of Responsibility For Defamation For Internet Service Providers, Christopher Butler

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Though the rapid development of the Internet has created a fertile ground for legal innovation, more often than not legislators and courts have sought to address this relatively new medium by attempting to squeeze it into precedents and paradigms better suited to older forms of communication, technology, and media. Part I of this article looks back at the courts' initial efforts at addressing defamation via the Internet. From the start the courts attempted to fit the role of the ISP into the common law's categorizing of print media as either "publishers" or "distributors" of information. One court's misstep in overextending …

Telemedicine: Rx For The Future Of Health Care, Susan E. Volkert

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Quite simply, telemedicine symbolizes and catalyzes the clash between the reality of our legal and political approach to health care and the American dream of bringing health care to all patients. Telemedicine, like our health care delivery systems, is regulated by many layers of government. Unlike other issues, telemedicine cuts through and challenges the traditional controls of access and cost. As such, telemedicine is a microcosm of our health care delivery system and a lens through which one may analyze the obstacles to access in the current system. This article examines these issues, proposes that telemedicine's goal should be to …

Climbing The Walls Of Your Electronic Cage, Steven Hetcher

Michigan Law Review

Space. The final frontier. Not so, say the doyennes of the firstgeneration Internet community, who view themselves as the new frontiersmen and women staking out a previously unexplored territory - cyberspace. Numerous metaphors in the Internet literature picture cyberspace as a new, previously unexplored domain. Parallels are frequently drawn to the American colonies, the Western frontier, or outer space. In Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace, Lawrence Lessig says, "Cyberspace is a place. People live there." In this place, we will build a "new society" (p. 4). A sense of this background is helpful in appraising Lessig's claims. He argues …

Don’T Talk To Strangers: An Analysis Of Government And Industry Efforts To Protect A Child’S Privacy Online, Dorothy A. Hertzel

Federal Communications Law Journal

Studies indicate that nearly two-thirds of children use the Internet. Children online users have created unique concerns for Internet providers and lawmakers. The collection, storage, and sale of a child online user's personal information without the child or parent's knowledge or consent has elicited much concern. Such a practice is commonplace in the world of the Internet. Congress, through the Child Online Privacy Protection Act, and the Internet industry have addressed how to curb this practice. In addition to these efforts, technological tools are currently available that block the transfer of personally identifiable information from the user to the computer. …

The Death Of Cyberspace, Lawrence Lessig

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Silencing John Doe: Defamation & Discourse In Cyberspace, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky

UF Law Faculty Publications

John Doe has become a popular defamation defendant as corporations and their officers bring defamation suits for statements made about them in Internet discussion fora. These new suits are not even arguably about recovering money damages but instead are brought for symbolic reasons—some worthy, some not so worthy. If the only consequence of these suits were that Internet users were held accountable for their speech, the suits would be an unalloyed good. However, these suits threaten to suppress legitimate criticism along with intentional and reckless falsehoods, and existing First Amendment law doctrines are not responsive to the threat these suits …

Cyberspace And The "Devil's Hatband", Jonathan J. Rusch

Seattle University Law Review

In this Article, I maintain that while there is an ongoing conflict of legal traditions over the desirability of fences in cyberspace, there are definite virtues in the creation of such fences, so long as we understand the physical, psychological, and moral dimensions of that process. Part I will present a brief survey of the history of barbed wire in the Old West, paying particular attention to the contending legal traditions that affected the manner and extent of that growth in the West. These contending legal traditions, which related to "fencing in" versus "fencing out" cattle, played a key role …

"I See What You're Saying": Trademarked Terms And Symbols As Protected Consumer Commentary In Consumer Opinion Websites, Leslie C. Rochat

Seattle University Law Review

Although there are a wide array of unresolved trademark issues with regard to the Internet, this Comment will not address disputes involving anything beyond the visible content of an individual's website. Domain name and meta-tag issues, though often referenced in order to demonstrate trends in analysis, are not the subjects of this inquiry. Rather, this Comment will focus on the triumvirate of claims most frequently asserted against individual web masters in the battle over the propriety of consumer commentary: trademark infringement, unfair competition, and trademark dilution. A recent court decision, Bally Total Fitness v. Faber, provides an example of the …

"Click Here To Buy The Next Microsoft": The Penny Stock Rules, Online Microcap Fraud, And The Unwary Investor, Kevin C. Bartels

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Securities Regulation In The Electronic Era: Private Placements And The Internet, Todd A. Mazur

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Symposium Presentation: Doing Internet Co-Branding Agreements, Eric Goldman

Faculty Publications

Co-brand agreements are what I do. I am the self-titled "King of CoBrands," as this is what I've been doing with my life.

So, let's talk a little about co-branding agreements and about why they might matter. First let's define our terms.

Now, where there used to be one site, the provider site, there will be two sites, the provider site and co-branded site, which contains the branding of the portal, but contains all the same functionality, or similar functionality, as is in the provider's site.

Then the portal will drive traffic to this co-branding site, for purposes that we'll …

The Internet And Public International Law, John M. Rogers

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

It is perhaps commonplace to observe that recent developments in information technology are revolutionizing most aspects of our lives. Anything that affects our lives so profoundly will, of necessity, have a significant effect on the law. We can expect that the information revolution will have a comparably significant impact on the international system of binding obligations often called public international law. Just what that will be is of course extremely difficult to predict. Compounding that difficulty is the lack of consensus on just what actually amounts to the public international legal system. Scholars and lawyers still debate fundamental questions regarding …

Silencing John Doe: Defamation And Discourse In Cyberspace, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

John Doe has become a popular defamation defendant as corporations and their officers bring defamation suits for statements made about them in Internet discussion fora. These new suits are not even arguably about recovering money damages but instead are brought for symbolic reasons — some worthy, some not so worthy. If the only consequence of these suits were that Internet users were held accountable for their speech, the suits would be an unalloyed good. However, these suits threaten to suppress legitimate criticism along with intentional and reckless falsehoods, and existing First Amendment law doctrines are not responsive to the threat …

Paradigm Changes In Telecommunications Regulation, Phil Weiser

Publications

No abstract provided.

Securities Disclosure Regime - Challenges Posed By The Internet And Technology, Thomas Thomas Thoppil

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis is an effort to evaluate the structural changes that have taken place in the securities market of the United States and its impact on securities disclosure regime mandated by the Federal Securities Act. Part 2 of the thesis discusses the securities disclosure regime and its underlying economic theories. This part also traces the challenges posed by technology and takes a quick look at the argument that the traditional norms are incompatible in dealing with those challenges. Part 3 deals primarily with structural developments in the securities market over the past five years by examining some of the innovative …