Internet Law Commons^™

Cartoons Aren't Real People, Too: Does The Regulation Of Virtual Child Pornography Violate The First Amendment And Criminalize Subversive Thought?, Keisha April

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note argues that the government's regulation of virtual child pornography, particularly under the Obscene Visual Representations of the Sexual Abuse of Children (OVR) provision of the PROTECT Act, raises significant First Amendment concerns. While the provision aims to protect children, it criminalizes depictions that do not involve real children, undermining free expression. The analysis critiques the OVR provision's overbreadth and vagueness, asserting that it chills artistic expression and fails to serve a compelling government interest. The note advocates for narrowing the provision to focus on actual harm rather than fictional depictions.

In Defence Of A Defence - A Demonstrable Legitimate And Non-Infringing Purpose As A Full Defence To Anti-Circumvention Legislation, Andrew Yolles

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In this essay, I will argue that making a demonstrable lawful and non-infringing purpose a full defence to copyright infringement by circumvention of a TPM addresses many of the concerns raised by the currently proposed legislation, while avoiding the pitfalls of directly linking anti-circumvention laws with actual copyright infringement. As the ratification of the WIPO Internet treaties is the foremost concern for this legislation, I will begin with a discussion as to how this model can successfully implement the treaties’ anti-circumvention provisions where the Bill C-60 model may have failed. I will then explain why this model strikes a better …

Book Review: William F. Patry, How To Fix Copyright, Graham Reynolds

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In How to Fix Copyright, William F. Patry, one of America’s leading experts on copyright, calls for a “top-to-bottom, systemic overhaul” of copyright laws. For a Canadian readership in the midst of our own process of copyright reform, such a call to action is both timely and relevant.

Decoding First Amendment Coverage Of Computer Source Code In The Age Of Youtube, Facebook And The Arab Spring, Jorge Roig

Scholarly Works

Computer source code is the lifeblood of the Internet. It is also the brick and mortar of cyberspace. As such, it has been argued that the degree of control that a government can wield over code can be a powerful tool for controlling new technologies. With the advent and proliferation in the Internet of social networking media and platforms for the publication and sharing of user-generated content, the ability of individuals across the world to communicate with each other has reached truly revolutionary dimensions. The influence of Facebook in the popular revolutions of the Arab Spring has been well documented. …

A Better Way Forward For State Taxation Of E-Commerce, David Gamage, Devin J. Heckman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

We propose a novel solution for states that wish to tax interstate e-commerce – based on fully and adequately compensating remote vendors for all tax compliance costs. We argue that our proposed solution is compatible with the Quill framework for when states can constitutionally impose burdens on remote vendors. We argue that unlike our proposed solution, the recent state attempts to tax interstate e-commerce through so-called “Amazon laws” are unconstitutional, ineffective, or both. We thus urge the states to adopt our proposed approach as the best way forward for state taxation of interstate e-commerce.

Chain-Link Confidentiality, Woodrow Hartzog

Georgia Law Review

Disclosing personal information online often feels like
losing control over one's data forever; but it does not have
to be that way. This Essay proposes a "chain-link
confidentiality" approach to protecting online privacy.
One of the most difficult challenges to guarding privacy in
the digital age is the protection of information once it is
exposed to other people. A chain-link confidentiality
regime would link the disclosure of personal information
to obligations to protect that information as the
information moves downstream. It would focus on the
relationships not only between the discloser of information
and the initial recipient but also between …

Friends, Gangbangers, Custody Disputants, Lend Me Your Passwords, Aviva Orenstein

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Whenever parties seek to introduce out-of-court statements, evidentiary issues of hearsay and authentication will arise. As methods of communication expand, the Rules of Evidence must necessarily keep pace. The rules remain essentially the same, but their application vary with new modes of communication. Evidence law has been very adaptable in some ways, and notoriously conservative, even stodgy, in others. Although statements on Facebook and other social media raise some interesting questions concerning the hearsay rule and its exceptions, there has been little concern about applying the hearsay doctrine to such forms of communication. By contrast, such new media have triggered …

Patent Litigation And The Internet, John R. Allison, Emerson H. Tiller, Samantha Zyontz, Tristan Bligh

Faculty Scholarship

Patent infringement litigation has not only increased dramatically in frequency over the past few decades,¹ but also has also seen striking growth in both stakes and cost.² Although a relatively rich literature has added much to our understanding of the nature, causes, and consequences of patent litigation during the past two decades,³ many interesting questions remain inadequately addressed. The nuances of and trends in patent litigation in different technology fields and industries, for example, are still understudied.⁴ Litigation of patents on new technologies has likewise received a dearth of attention. Here we seek to help begin …

State Administrative Legal Review On The Bill Of Retraction Law Of Corrupted Assets In Eradication Effort Of Corruption In Indonesia, Dian Puji Simatupang

Indonesia Law Review

Since eradicating corruption having been continously encouraged by late governments – and until now – , there would not be less important as to retracting the corrupted assets. There are many aspects to be considered in doing such action, such as manifesting the legal aspects of administrative law, and so other applied national regulations. By these regulations, such as Law No. 7 of 2006 on Ratification of United Nations Convention against Corruption, 2003 (Konvensi Perserikatan Bangsa Bangsa Anti-Korupsi, 2003), Law Number 25 of 2003 On Amendment to Law Number 15 of 2002 on Money Laundering, Act 30 of 2002 on …

On Land (Wealth) Distribution: A Cultural Approach To Justice In Indonesia, Suparjo Suparjo

Indonesia Law Review

This article re-examines the Indonesian land distribution policy in light of Pancasila , the five core values of the Indonesian constitution. Furthermore, the article also analyzes social problems in Indonesia from the legal and cultural point of view. Inspired by Javanese shadow puppet plays and Pancasila values, analysis shows that that land distribution policy in Indonesia does not support the goal of the country. The policy does not adhere to Pancasila values and the cultural values adopted by the Indonesian people. Hence I will try to give a recommendation for better regulation in land distribution. Evidences will be given to …

President Obama And The Changing Cyber Paradigm, Eric Talbot Jensen

Faculty Scholarship

Among the most important issues for American National Security is the national response to the growing threat from cyber activities. This threat is both ubiquitous and potentially catastrophic as recently demonstrated by both the recent decision by the UK to prioritize cyber capabilities over putting in service an air-capable aircraft carrier and the targeted effectiveness of the STUXNET worm. The evolving cyber paradigm will force the United States to reevaluate the way in which it thinks of both national security and the concept of armed conflict. To combat this threat, President Obama must refocus America’s attention, by both reallocating the …

Adverse Publicity By Administrative Agencies In The Internet Era, Nathan Cortez

BYU Law Review

Nearly forty years ago, Ernest Gellhorn documented the potentially devastating impact that can occur when federal agencies issue adverse publicity about private parties. Based on his article, the Administrative Conference of the United States recommended that courts, Congress, and agencies hold agencies to clear standards for issuing such publicity. In the decades since, some agencies have adopted standards, but most have not, and neither the courts nor Congress has intervened to impose standards. Today, agencies continue to use countless forms of publicity to pressure alleged regulatory violators and to amplify their overall enforcement powers—all without affording due process or other …

Public Forum 2.0, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky

UF Law Faculty Publications

Social media have the potential to revolutionize discourse between American citizens and their governments. At present, however, the U.S. Supreme Court's public forum jurisprudence frustrates rather than fosters that potential. This article navigates the notoriously complex body of public forum doctrine to provide guidance for those who must develop or administer government-sponsored social media or adjudicate First Amendment questions concerning them. Next, the article marks out a new path for public forum doctrine that will allow it to realize the potential of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance democratic discourse between the governors and the governed. Along the way, this article …

Google’S China Problem: A Case Study On Trade, Technology And Human Rights Under The Gats, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Trade and human rights have long had a troubled relationship. The advent of new technologies such as internet further complicates the relationship. This article reviews the relationship between trade, technology and human rights in light of the recent dispute between Google and China from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Starting with an overview of the internet censorship regime in China, the article goes on to assess the legal merits of a WTO challenge in this case. First, the article discusses which service sector or subsectors might be at issue. Second, the article analyzes whether and to what extent China has …

The Path Of Internet Law: An Annotated Guide To Legal Landmarks, Michael L. Rustad, Diane D’Angelo

Duke Law & Technology Review

The evolution of the Internet has forever changed the legal landscape. The Internet is the world’s largest marketplace, copy machine, and instrumentality for committing crimes, torts, and infringing intellectual property. Justice Holmes’s classic essay on the path of the law drew upon six centuries of case reports and statutes. In less than twenty-five years, Internet law has created new legal dilemmas and challenges in accommodating new information technologies. Part I is a brief timeline of Internet case law and statutory developments for Internet-related intellectual property (IP) law. Part II describes some of the ways in which the Internet is redirecting …

Ombuds In Cloud Of Exabytes--Understanding The Ombuds' Digital Trail, Craig Mousin

Mission and Ministry Publications

This article examines Ombuds Standards of Practice as Ombuds increasingly rely upon electronic communication. It first explores the expansion of electronically stored information (ESI) due to the many different electronic devices Ombuds rely upon or interact with including computers, smartphones, and printers. It then reviews how novel legal issues caused by e-discovery--the search for relevant digital documents in litigation--will impact Ombuds. Finally, it offers Ombuds suggestions on managing and controlling ESI while raising the question of whether the International Ombudsman Association must review its Standards of Practice in light of these ESI developments.

Ninth Circuit Unmasks Anonymous Internet Users And Lowers The Bar For Disclosure Of Online Speakers, Mallory Allen

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

There is no judicial consensus about what test to apply when plaintiffs attempt to obtain the identity of an anonymous Internet user during discovery in an online defamation case. In July 2010, the Ninth Circuit became the first federal appeals court to devise an articulable test to determine when a plaintiff may compel disclosure of an online commentator. Previously, federal courts had applied inconsistent balancing tests to determine whether disclosure was appropriate. In In re Anonymous Online Speakers, the Ninth Circuit relied upon the Delaware state-court standard from Doe v. Cahill but applied this test in a way that …

Incendiary Speech And Social Media, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky

UF Law Faculty Publications

Incidents illustrating the incendiary capacity of social media have rekindled concerns about the "mismatch" between existing doctrinal categories and new types of dangerous speech. This Essay examines two such incidents, one in which an offensive tweet and YouTube video led a hostile audience to riot and murder, and the other in which a blogger urged his nameless, faceless audience to murder federal judges. One incident resulted in liability for the speaker, even though no violence occurred; the other did not lead to liability for the speaker even though at least thirty people died as a result of his words. An …

Untangling The Web: Exploring Internet Regulation Schemes In Western Democracies, Renee Keen

San Diego International Law Journal

This Comment investigates past censorship schemes proposed and implemented by selected democratic administrations, in order to develop an improved framework and accompanying infrastructure that may accomplish the goals that these policies envisioned, but failed to achieve. The difficulty of this undertaking is in developing the intermediate and legally defensible parameters under which a regulation scheme can endure and gain support in a democratic society. The greater difficulty lies in developing a system that can accomplish these objectives in the burgeoning and ever-changing cyber realm. The challenges posed by Internet activity are novel ones, and the legitimacy of the actions taken …

The Future Of Cybertravel: Legal Implications Of The Evasion Of Geolocation -- A Presentation, Marketa Trimble

Boyd Briefs / Road Scholars

Professor Marketa Trimble presented these materials at the Def Con 19 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 7, 2011. The presentation discussed what the law has (or does not have) to say about evasion of geolocation or "cybertravel" -- acts by which a user makes geolocation tools believe that he is physically located somewhere other than where he is located.

Does Legalzoom Have First Amendment Rights? Some Thoughts About Freedom Of Speech And The Unauthorized Practice Of Law, Catherine J. Lanctot

Working Paper Series

At a time of economic dislocation in the legal profession, it is likely that bar regulators will turn their attention to pursuing lay entities that appear to be engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. One prominent target of these efforts is LegalZoom, an online document preparer that has come under increasing pressure from the organized bar for its marketing and sale of basic legal documents. As regulatory pressure against LegalZoom and similar companies continues to mount, it is worth considering whether there may be unanticipated consequences from pursuing these unauthorized practice claims. In several well-known instances, lay people have …

Do Sexting Prosecutions Violate Teenagers' Constitutional Rights?, Joanne Sweeny

San Diego Law Review

The media has recently been highlighting a rash of prosecutions of teenagers who engage in "sexting"--sending nude or sexually explicit images of themselves or their peers--under child pornography laws. These prosecutions have led to mass criticism for threatening teens with long prison terms and registration as sex offenders for activities that are perceived to be relatively innocent. Many, if not most, of these sexting teens are legally permitted to engage in sexual activities through their states' statutory rape laws, which leads to an absurd situation in which teens are permitted to engage in sex but not photograph it. This mismatch …

The Google Conundrum: Perpetrator Or Facilitator On The Net? - Forging A Fair Copyright Framework Of Rights, Liability And Responsibility In Response To Search Engine 2.0 - Part Ii: The Google Books Search Project, Warren B. Chik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Is Google in its quest for search engine optimization through the creation of new technologies, which not only improves its search algorithms but also refines its search functions for users, doing it in a manner that makes it a perpetrator of primary copyright infringement or an invaluable facilitator for Internet functionality? How should the balance of interests in the treatment of creative works be recalibrated in the face of changes in search engine technology and operations, and the disputes that have arisen within the last decade in the context of the digital age and its needs? Using Google as a …

Toward A Trips Truce, Patricia L. Judd

Michigan Journal of International Law

The World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS or Agreement), now over fifteen years old, regulates a marketplace characterized by extraordinary dynamism, influenced by the constant forces of globalization and technological evolution. Attempts to regulate this market raise natural, persistent questions concerning the Agreement's ability to serve its respective constituencies and adapt to change. The Agreement operates in the midst of an age-old dynamic pitting developing and developed countries against one another, especially when it comes to domestic enforcement against piracy and counterfeiting-a dynamic in which TRIPS has been criticized as a one-sided instrument. …

The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act And The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy The First Decade: Looking Back And Adapting Forward, Tenesa S. Scaturro

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Government Sponsored Social Media And Public Forum Doctrine Under The First Amendment: Perils And Pitfalls, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

Between the extremes of no interactivity and complete interactivity, it is difficult to predict whether courts will label a government sponsored social media site a public forum or not. But it is precisely "in between" where government actors are likely to wish to engage citizens and where citizens are most likely to benefit from government social media initiatives. The goal of this article, therefore, is to provide guidance to lawyers trying to navigate the morass that is the U.S. Supreme Court's public forum jurisprudence in order to advise government actors wishing to establish social media forums.

Protecting Anonymous Expression: The Internet's Role In Washington State's Disclosure Laws And The Direct Democracy Process, Karen Cullinane

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note proposes that the Washington State Legislature amend its Public Records Act to exempt from public disclosure personal information legally required to be disclosed by signers of referendum petitions. This Note also proposes that the Washington State Legislature designate an electronic system, to be detailed in its election law, by which referendum petitions can be checked for fraud without violating the right to anonymous expression protected by the First Amendment. Part I describes Washington State's referendum process and the path of Doe v. Reed, the case animating the reform presented in this Note. Part II illustrates how the rise …

Injunction Relief: Must Nonparty Websites Obey Court Orders To Remove User Content?, Connor Moran

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Websites are normally immune to suits arising from illegal user-posted content due to 42 USC § 230. Victims of illegal postings must therefore bring suit, if at all, against the original posters. However, when websites refuse to take down illegal content, a suit against an original poster might not provide relief. In the recent case Blockowicz v. Williams, a family won a default judgment against persons posting defamatory content to Ripoff Report. But the plaintiffs could not contact the defendant to enforce the judgment, and thus they sought enforcement of an injunction against Ripoff Report. The court refused because …

Off With The Head? How Eliminating Search And Index Functionality Reduces Secondary Liability In Peer-To-Peer File-Sharing Cases, Luke M. Rona

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Peer-to-peer file-sharing service providers (P2Ps) allow Internet users to exchange electronic content, including music, movies, and other digital works. In Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., the Supreme Court unanimously disarmed such P2Ps by holding that it is unlawful to distribute programs that induce others to commit copyright infringement. Evolved technologies, such as dot-torrent, allow mass file exchanges between third-party users--an attempt to remove the P2P from the file-sharing equation. The court in Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. v. Fung, however, imputed inducement from the search and index functionality of the P2P’s software, as well as the P2P’s encouraging …

Stolen Art, Looted Antiquities, And The Insurable Interest Requirement, Robert L. Tucker

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Trafficking in stolen art and looted antiquities is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Stolen art and looted antiquities are ultimately sold to museums or private collectors. Sometimes the purchasers acquire them in good faith. But other times, the purchasers know, suspect, or willfully blind themselves to the possibility that the piece was stolen or illegally excavated and exported up the chain of title.

This problem is compounded by customs and course of dealing in the art and antiquities trade. Dealers generally decline to provide meaningful information to prospective purchasers about the provenance of a piece, and sophisticated purchasers customarily acquiesce in …