Internet Law Commons^™

Rethinking Online Privacy In Canada: Commentary On Voltage Pictures V. John And Jane Doe, Ngozi Okidegbe

Faculty Scholarship

This article problematizes the use of the bona fide case standard as the legal standard for a court to order a third party Internet Service Provider ("ISP") to disclose subscriber information to a copyright owner in online piracy cases. It argues that ISP account holders have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their subscriber information. It contends that the current bona fide case standard affords a relatively low threshold of protection for Internet users’ subscriber information. The reason for which the article takes this position is that the bona fide case standard can be met solely by IP address evidence, …

Watching The Watchers, Neil M. Richards

Scholarship@WashULaw

In this essay from Wired Magazine (UK)'s special edition, The Wired World in 2014, Prof. Richards argues that sousveillance–watching the watchers–is an important development that will be on the rise in 2014.

Social Engineering Through Shari’A: Islamic Law And State-Directed Da’Wa In Contemporary Aceh, R. Michael Feener

Indonesia Law Review

This study of the contemporary Islamic legal system in Aceh, Indonesia argues for new attention to be paid to the ways in which contemporary Muslim agendas for the implementation of Islamic law can be read as projects for future oriented social transformation—rather than as a series of reactive measures to perceived ‘crises of modernity’ and/or the political machinations of rival elites in contesting control of state power. In doing so it highlights the ways in which the ideals of, and institutional formations developed by, proponents of Islamic law are configured in relation to a broad range of non-Muslim modernist projects, …

Judge Pauley’S Opinion In Clapper: Reset Button For Bulk Collection Debate?, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

This article was originally found in Lawfare, available here: https://www.lawfareblog.com/judge-pauleys-opinion-clapper-reset-button-bulk-collection-debate

Desperately Seeking Substance (Not Slogans) In Review Group Report On Nsa Surveillance, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Wireless Localism: Beyond The Shroud Of Objectivity In Federal Spectrum Administration, Olivier Sylvain

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Recent innovations in mobile wireless technology have instigated a debate between two camps of legal scholars about federal administration of the electromagnetic spectrum. The first camp argues that the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) should define spectrum use rights more clearly and give spectrum licensees broad property rights in frequencies. The second camp argues that, rather than award exclusive licenses to the highest bidder, the FCC ought to open much, if not most, of the spectrum to unlicensed use by smartphones and tablets equipped with the newest spectrum administration technology. First, this Article shows that both of these camps comprise a …

Tollbooths And Newsstands On The Information Superhighway, Brad A. Greenberg

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Countering the perception that speech limitations affecting distribution necessarily reduce access to information, this Essay proffers that copyright expansions actually can increase access and thereby serve important copyright and First Amendment values. In doing so, this discussion contributes to the growing literature and two recent Supreme Court opinions discussing whether copyright law and First Amendment interests can coexist.

Stymieing Controversy Over Generic Top-Level Domains (Gtlds) And Other Internet Governance Decisions With Content Neutrality, Nafees Uddin

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

E-Commerce Regulation: Necessity, Futility, Disconnect, Eliza Mik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Existing e-commerce regulations constitute a premature and unnecessary interference in the natural evolution of commercial practices and technologies. I question not just their quality, mainly attributable to the technological ignorance of the regulator, but their very necessity. I observe the practical futility of drafting effective regulatory instruments in areas subject to continuous and unpredictable technological change. I criticize the overly homogenous approach to "everything Internet" (i.e. everything involving the Internet requires new law) as well as the creation of new regulatory spheres and legal categories. Some might claim that it is too early for a critical retrospective of this subject. …

Misplaced Misrepresentations: Why Misrepresentation-Of-Age Statutes Must Be Reinterpreted As They Apply To Children’S Online Contracts, Michelle A. Sargent

Michigan Law Review

The information age revolutionized the relationship between individuals and the internet. Today, children are the targets of online advertisements that lure them into accepting terms of service, thus entering into online agreements. While children may feel comfortable navigating websites, they are psychologically predisposed to be unsophisticated and impulsive actors online. Children lack the digital literacy to understand the implications of accepting website terms of service. Meanwhile, several states have misrepresentation-of-age statutes that prevent children from using the infancy doctrine to disaffirm online contracts because, in accepting the terms of service, children often represent that they are old enough to enter …

Rape Shield Laws And The Social Media Revolution: Discoverability Of Social Media--It's Not Private, Seth I. Koslow

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Identity Theft On Social Networking Sites: Developing Issues Of Internet Impersonation, Maksim Reznik

Touro Law Review

This Comment focuses on the dangers of social media sites when a person gains access to another's online account through two different methods: (1) stealing the third party's password, or (2) creating a completely fake profile and subsequently impersonating that person.

Selling Art: An Empirical Assessment Of Advertising On Fertility Clinics' Websites, Jim Hawkins

Indiana Law Journal

Scholarship on assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has emphasized the commercial nature of the interaction between fertility patients and their physicians, but little attention has been paid to precisely how clinics persuade patients to choose their clinics over their competitors’. This Article offers evidence about how clinics sell ART based on clinics’ advertising on their websites. To assess clinics’ marketing efforts, I coded advertising information on 372 fertility clinics’ websites. The results from the study confirm some suspicions of prior ART scholarship while contradicting others. For instance, in line with scholars who are concerned that racial minorities face barriers to accessing …

Selling Art Or Selling Out?: A Response To Selling Art: An Empirical Assessment Of Advertising On Fertility Clinics' Websites, Jody L. Madeira

Indiana Law Journal

Roundtable on Regulating Assisted Reproductive Technology 2012

A New Approach To Digital Reader Privacy; State Regulations And Their Protection Of Digital Book Data, Andrew A. Proia

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Now Playing At A Youtube Near You: "Innocence Of [Internet Service Providers]", Brian A. Oliver

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Biometric Id Cybersurveillance, Margaret Hum

Indiana Law Journal

The implementation of a universal digitalized biometric ID system risks normalizing and integrating mass cybersurveillance into the daily lives of ordinary citizens. ID documents such as driver’s licenses in some states and all U.S. passports are now implanted with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. In recent proposals, Congress has considered implementing a digitalized biometric identification card—such as a biometric-based, “high-tech” Social Security Card—which may eventually lead to the development of a universal multimodal biometric database (e.g., the collection of the digital photos, fingerprints, iris scans, and/or DNA of all citizens and noncitizens). Such “hightech” IDs, once merged with GPS-RFID tracking …

Biometric Id Cybersurveillance, Margaret Hu

Faculty Publications

The implementation of a universal digitalized biometric ID system risks normalizing and integrating mass cybersurveillance into the daily lives of ordinary citizens. ID documents such as driver’s licenses in some states and all U.S. passports are now implanted with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. In recent proposals, Congress has considered implementing a digitalized biometric identification card—such as a biometric-based, “high-tech” Social Security Card—which may eventually lead to the development of a universal multimodal biometric database (e.g., the collection of the digital photos, fingerprints, iris scans, and/or DNA of all citizens and noncitizens). Such “hightech” IDs, once merged with GPS-RFID tracking …

Is The Invocation Of Inherent Jurisdiction The Same As The Exercise Of Inherent Powers? Re Nalpon Zero Geraldo Mario [Case Note], Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In Re McC (A Minor), Lord Bridge of Harwich remarked that few words have been ‘used with so many different shades of meaning in different contexts’ and ‘have so freely acquired new meanings’ as the word ‘jurisdiction’. The definitional conundrum deepens when ‘jurisdiction’ is combined with the adjective ‘inherent,’ yet common law courts around the world routinely claim to invoke inherent jurisdiction for a wide array of purposes in civil and criminal matters, ranging from the reception of evidence to the ensuring of a fair trial, and this necessarily raises questions about the limits of such an exercise.

Acum V. Emi, Daphne Barak-Erez, Zvi Zylbertal, Elyakim Rubinstein

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.]

In 2004 the Director-General of the Antitrust Authority determined that the activity of ACUM (a corporation that operates to manage its members’ copyrights in musical works in Israel) constitutes a monopoly on managing copyright over musical works. In 2011 the Antitrust Tribunal (“the Tribunal”) approved the activity of ACUM as a cartel, subject to a series of requirements (“the permanent requirements”), which would be …

Are Cryptocurrencies Super Tax Havens?, Omri Marian

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Virtual currencies are online payment systems that may function as real currencies but are not issued or backed by central governments. As demonstrated by recent events, virtual currencies present regulators with significant challenges. On May 23, 2013, the U.S. federal government brought an indictment against the operators of Liberty Reserve, a popular virtual currency, charging the operators with money laundering and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The same month, the Government Accountability Office ("GAO") made public a report exploring the potential tax-compliance risks associated with virtual currencies and economies. Legislators have also taken particular interest in one type of virtual …

The Collision Of Social Media And Social Unrest: Why Shutting Down Social Media Is The Wrong Response, Mirae Yang

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

With the growing availability of Internet access across the globe, social media has transformed the traditional relationship between government authority and its citizens by providing the people with an innovative and powerful means to harmonize their efforts in expressing their political and social concerns. The importance of safeguarding Internet availability is more critical than ever before as access to the Internet is now the means by which the world communicates, stays informed, and engages in daily tasks. In the face of potential social unrest fueled by social media, the United States must take a preventative approach, one that matches our …

International Cryptography Regulation And The Global Information Economy, Nathan Saper

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

With the meteoric rise of the Internet and e-commerce in the 1990s came great attention to the problems and opportunities associated with cryptography. Throughout that decade, the United States and many foreign countries debated and experimented with various forms of cryptography regulation, and attempts were made at international harmonization. Since then, however, policy-making activity around cryptography has slowed, if not halted altogether, leaving individuals and companies to face a bewildering array of regulations—or, in many cases, to face regulations that are extraordinarily unclear and haphazardly applied.

This Note seeks to introduce the reader to the issue of international cryptography regulation …

Do-Not-Track As Default, Joshua A.T. Fairfield

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

Do-Not-Track is a developing online legal and technological standard that permits consumers to express their desire not to be tracked by online advertisers. Do-Not-Track has the ability to change the relationship between consumers and advertisers in the information market. Everything will depend on implementation. The most effective way to allow users to achieve their privacy preferences is to implement Do-Not-Track as a default feature.

The World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) standard setting body for Do-Not-Track has, however, endorsed a corrosive standard in its Tracking Preferences Expression (TPE) draft. This standard requires consumers to set their privacy preference by hand. This …

Should The Internet Exempt The Media Sector From The Antitrust Laws?, Thomas J. Horton, Robert H. Lande

All Faculty Scholarship

This article examines whether the "old media" and the "new media", including the Internet, should be considered to be within the same relevant market for antitrust purposes. To do this the article first demonstrates that proper antitrust consideration of the role of non-price competition necessitates that “news” and “journalism” be analyzed in two distinct ways. First, every part of the operations of a newspaper (or other type of media source), including its investigative reporting and local coverage, should be assessed separately. We present empirical evidence collected for this study which demonstrates that the old media continues to win the vast …

Hybrid Paradigm From European And America Concerning Privacy And Personal Data Protection In Indonesia, Edmon Makarim

Indonesia Law Review

In the emerging era of information and technology, the importance of privacy and data protection is growing ever since. However, despite such common concern from the society, there is some confusion about the mechanisms of differentiation and scope of discussion about privacy with the protection of personal data and even impressed blended with issues of spamming issues. With comparison to Europe and the US legal perspectives, Therefore, this paper tries to discuss such problem in accordance to the perspective of laws to the communication itself.

Costing A Pretty Penny: Online Penny Auctions Revive The Pestilence Of Unregulated Lotteries, David R. Konkel

Seattle University Law Review

Penny auctions, an online phenomenon imported from Europe, operate by the hundreds in the United States without meaningful oversight from consumer protection agencies. In a penny auction, consumers compete for items one penny at a time. To date, no significant inquiry, either academic or practical, into the legitimacy of the penny auction has occurred. Although marketed as auctions, online penny auctions may actually qualify as lotteries. Unlike the multifarious and confusing definitions of gambling, the long-accepted definition of a lottery consists of three elements: prize, consideration, and chance. If a penny auction satisfies this definition then, under well-established case law …

Privacy, Antitrust, And Power, Frank Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—First Amendment—Social Media Rams The Tinker Schoolhouse Gate: A New Approach For Online Student Speech, S. Kate Fletcher

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

We And Cyberlaw: The Spatial Unity Of Constitutional Orders, Hans Lindahl

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This paper scrutinizes the fundamental assumption governing Gunther Teubner's theory of societal constitutionalism, namely that societal constitutions are ultimately about the regulation of inclusion and exclusion in global function systems. While endorsing the central role of inclusion/exclusion in constitutions, societal or otherwise, I argue that inclusion and exclusion are primordial categories of collective action, rather than functional categories. As a result, the self-closure which gives rise to a legal collective is spatial as much as it is temporal, and subjective no less than material. Inasmuch as legal orders must establish who ought to do what, where, and when, this entails, …