Internet Law Commons^™

Claim Construction, Appeal, And The Predictability Of Interpretive Regimes, Jeffrey A. Lefstin

ExpressO

Interpretation is central to patent law, because most adjudications require association of written claims with non-linguistic subject matter. By some accounts, the lack of predictability in the law of claim interpretation has reached crisis proportions, and has prompted calls for far-reaching changes in the way patent issues are adjudicated. However, the actual evidence that questions of interpretation are more problematic than other aspects of patent law is sparser than is commonly recognized. Moreover, while the controversy over claim interpretation centers around the predictability of interpretation between trial and appeal, what is important is to be able to predict outcomes before …

Law And Heidegger’S Question Concerning Technology: A Prolegomenon To Future Law Librarianship, Paul D. Callister

ExpressO

Following World War II, the German philosopher Martin Heidegger offered one of the most potent criticisms of technology and modern life. His nightmare is a world whose essence has been reduced to the functional equivalent of “a giant gasoline station, an energy source for modern technology and industry. This relation of man to the world [is] in principle a technical one . . . . [It is] altogether alien to former ages and histories.” For Heidegger, the problem is not technology itself, but the technical mode of thinking that has accompanied it. Such a viewpoint of the world is a …

When Second Comes First: Correcting Patent’S Poor Secondary Incentives Through An Optional Patent Purchase System, Jordan Barry

ExpressO

As research has advanced, technologies have become more closely knit, and the relationships between them—both complementary and competitive—have become increasingly important. Unfortunately, the patent system’s use of monopoly power to reward innovators creates inefficient results by overly encouraging the development of substitute technologies and discouraging the development of complementary technologies. This paper explains how an optional patent purchase system could help ameliorate such problems and discusses the implications of such a system.

Internationalizing Copyright: How Claims Of International, Extraterritorial Copyright Infringement May Be Brought In U.S. Courts, Elliot Cook

ExpressO

This Comment assesses the use of the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”) as a jurisdictional basis for claims of international copyright infringement occurring outside of the United States. Under the ATS, aliens may sue in United States district courts for torts that amount to violations of treaties or the law of nations.

Given that copyright infringement is a tort, an alien may only be able to establish ATS jurisdiction in a suit of extraterritorial infringement if the infringement violated a treaty or the law of nations. This comment argues that extraterritorial copyright infringement does indeed amount to a violation of the …

The Need For Software Innovation Policy, Christopher Riley

ExpressO

This paper examines the current legal treatment of software innovation. It argues that recent judicial standards for the regulation of software innovation do not adequately protect innovation. It presents an original standard for the regulation of software innovation, one intended to guide judicial decisions in contributory copyright liability, in interpretations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and in every courtroom where a developer is on trial for the mere creation and distribution of software. The standard presented in this paper separates the questions of liability and remedy in order to produce an optimal dynamic balance of interests.

Youtube Or Youlose? Can Youtube Survive A Copyright Infringement Lawsuit, Jason C. Breen

ExpressO

YouTube, and similar video web hosting services, have already been targets of copyright infringement lawsuits. YouTube’s liability is most likely dependant on whether the service meets the requirements of the DMCA safe harbor for service providers under 17 U.S.C.A. § 512(c). This paper briefly examines how YouTube would fare under the different theories of copyright infringement and discusses whether the DMCA safe harbor would be available to YouTube if they were found liable as an infringer. The limited case law available indicates that the DMCA safe harbor will likely facilitate YouTube’s continued existence, unlike services like Grokster, although YouTube would …

Surfing Past The Pall Of Orthodoxy: Why The First Amendment Virtually Guarantees Online Law School Graduates Will Breach The Aba Accreditation Barrier, Nicholas C. Dranias

ExpressO

The impact of the constitutional dilemma created by the ABA’s aversion to Internet schooling is widespread. Currently, 18 states and 2 U.S. territories restrict bar exam eligibility to graduates of ABA-accredited law schools. Additionally, 29 states and 1 U.S. territory restrict admission to practice on motion to graduates of ABA-accredited law schools.

Although numerous lawsuits have been filed in ultimately failed efforts to strike down bar admission rules that restrict eligibility to graduates of ABA-accredited law schools, none has challenged the ABA-accreditation requirement based on the First Amendment’s prohibition on media discrimination. This Article makes that case.

Despite accelerating technological …

Myspace Isn't Your Space, Donald Carrington Davis

ExpressO

The advent and popularity of online social networking has changed the way Americans socialize. Employers have begun to tap into these online communities as a simple and inexpensive way to perform background checks on candidates. However, a number of problems arise and may arise when employers base adverse employment decisions on the results of these online searches. Three basic problems or issues accompany searches of online profiles for employment decisions: inaccurate, irrelevant, or false information leads to unfair employment decisions; lack of accountability and disclosure tempts employers to make illegal employment decisions; and employer searches of an employee’s online social …

Cyber-Extortion: Duties And Liabilities Related To The Elephant In The Server Room, Adam J. Sulkowski

ExpressO

This is a comprehensive analysis of the legal frameworks related to cyber-extortion – the practice of demanding money in exchange for not carrying out threats to commit harm that would involve a victim's information systems. The author hopes it will catalyze an urgently needed discussion of relevant public policy concerns.

Cyber-extortion has, by all accounts, become a common, professionalized and profit-driven criminal pursuit targeting businesses. 17% of businesses in a recent survey indicated having received a cyber-extortion demand. An additional 13% of respondents were not sure if their business had received such a demand.

Awareness of the risks of cybercrime …

Vol. Ix, Tab 46 - Ex. 66 - Deposition Of Larry Page From American Blind And Wallpaper V. Google (Google Co-Founder), Larry Page

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?

Space Program And Business In India - Legal Perspectives, Shashi Sharma

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Content On The Fly: The Growing Need For Regulation Of Video Content Delivered Via Cellular Telephony, Jacob M. Chapman

ExpressO

Technological advancements in the last twenty years have substantially altered the ways in which people work, communicate, and are entertained. Many of these advancements have occurred in areas generally thought to fall under the regulatory purview of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). These advancements have included the personal computer, the internet, digital cable, direct broadcast satellites (DBS), and cellular phones. Of all these increasingly available and inexpensive technologies, perhaps the most ubiquitous is the cellular phone. Thus far, the FCC has struggled to apply its public interest mandate to the ever shifting sands of technological development with varying degrees of …

Reservoirs Of Danger: The Evolution Of Public And Private Law At The Dawn Of The Information Age, Danielle Keats Citron

Faculty Scholarship

A defining problem at the dawn of the Information Age will be securing computer databases of ultra-sensitive personal information. These reservoirs of data fuel our Internet economy but endanger individuals when their information escapes into the hands of cyber-criminals. This juxtaposition of opportunities for rapid economic growth and novel dangers recalls similar challenges society and law faced at the outset of the Industrial Age. Then, reservoirs collected water to power textile mills: the water was harmless in repose but wrought havoc when it escaped. After initially resisting Rylands v. Fletcher’s strict liability standard as undermining economic development, American courts …

The Structure Of Search Engine Law, James Grimmelmann

Faculty Scholarship

This Article provides a road map to issues of search engine law. It indicates what questions we must consider when thinking about search engines, and it indicates the interconnections among those questions. It does not endorse any particular normative framework for search. Nor does it recommend who should regulate search. Instead, it provides the necessary foundation for informed decision-making, by whatever regulator and whatever its normative approach.

Part I will explain how modern search engines function and describe the business environment within which they operate. Search engine operations can be understood in terms of the information flows among four principal …

The Microfinance Movement: Closing The Gender Gap With A Click?, Ruth Jackson Lee

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Some Peer-To-Peer, Democratically And Voluntarily Produced Thoughts About 'The Wealth Of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets And Freedom,' By Yochai Benkler, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

In this review essay, Bartow concludes that The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom by Yochai Benkler is a book well worth reading, but that Benkler still has a bit more work to do before his Grand Unifying Theory of Life, The Internet, and Everything is satisfactorily complete. It isn't enough to concede that the Internet won't benefit everyone. He needs to more thoroughly consider the ways in which the lives of poor people actually worsen when previously accessible information, goods and services are rendered less convenient or completely unattainable by their migration online. Additionally, the …

Ict And Employer-Employee Power Dynamics: A Comparative Perspective Of United States' And Netherlands' Workplace Privacy In Light Of Information And Computer Technology Monitoring And Positioning Of Employees, 25 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 37 (2007), Colette Cuijpers

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Employees can cause harm to their employers through Information and Computer Technology (ICT) in employment relationships; for example, through surfing for adult material on the Internet or leaking company secrets via a mobile phone. Employers have responded to this development by introducing various surveillance systems. Besides well-known forms of Internet and e-mail surveillance, positioning systems are becoming a new trend. The influence these systems have on the employment relationship can be far-reaching, as they offer the employer an insight into the employee’s whereabouts, outside the company premises as well as outside company hours. As a consequence, the boundaries between the …

From Taylorism To The Omnipticon: Expanding Employee Surveillance Beyond The Workplace, 25 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 1 (2007), Robert D. Sprague

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

No abstract provided.

Application Service Providing, Copyright, And Licensing, 25 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 79 (2007), Michael P. Widmer

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Application Service Providing ("ASP"), where a vendor hosts a software application on her server and grants customers access to the application over a network -- without the software application itself being installed on the user’s computer -- is used by many, e.g. in the form of Web based e-mail services, and grows ever more important. This article argues that although ASP mainly raises questions (i) that come up in the context of traditional use of computer programs; or (ii) that have been addressed in the context of online use of works other than software, ASP has significantly different copyright implications …

The Fda And The Future Of The Brain-Computer Interface: Adapting Fda Device Law To The Challenges Of Human-Machine Enhancement, 25 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 117 (2007), Eric Chan

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

No abstract provided.

Angling For A Fair Standard: A Recommendation For A Narrowly Tailored Non-Profit Exemption To The Closed Captioning Requirements, 25 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 165 (2007), Joshua Pila

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

In late 2006, the FCC’s Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau (“CGB”) issued the Anglers Order, providing a wholesale exemption for non-profit entities seeking to avoid the strictures of the Commission’s closed captioning rules. Disability advocates quickly criticized the Anglers Order on administrative law and communications law grounds. This paper avoids administrative law and communications law issues, but instead criticizes the Anglers Order on non-profit law and policy grounds. The paper then recommends and supports a post-application, narrowly-tailored financial test, automatically exempting A) non-profit organizations, with B) less than $25,000 in annual revenue, who C) receive no financial compensation for airing …

Slingbox: Copyright, Fair Use, And Access To Television Programming Anywhere In The World, 25 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 187 (2007), Shekar Sathyanarayana

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

No abstract provided.

Remedying The Lose-Lose Game Of Compulsive Gambling: Voluntary Exclusions, Mandatory Exclusions, Or An Alternative Method?, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1221 (2007), William N. Thompson, Robert W. Stocker Ii, Peter J. Kulick

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Gambling And The Law®: The International Law Of Remote Wagering, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1159 (2007), I. Nelson Rose

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Heads-I-Win, Tails-You-Lose": The Predicament Legitimate Small Entities Face Post Ebay And The Essential Role Of Willful Infringement In The Four-Factor Permanent Injunction Analysis, 41 J. Marshall L. Rev. 189 (2007), William R. Everding

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

If You Prompt Them, They Will Rule: The Warranty Of Habitability Meets New Court Information Systems, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 425 (2007), Mary Marsh Zulack

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Identity Theft: Plugging The Massive Data Leaks With A Stricter Nationwide Breach-Notification Law, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 681 (2007), Amanda Draper

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judgment On Unfair Competition Dispute Between Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Ltd. Co. And Beijing 3721 Technology Ltd. Co., Pengyue Li

Washington International Law Journal

On October 20, 2003, Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Ltd., Co. (“Baidu”), a Nasdaq-listed company known as the “Google of China,” filed a suit against its competitor Beijing 3721 Technology Ltd. Co. (“3721”) in Beijing Chaoyang District Court for copyright infringement and unfair competition. The case is regarded as China’s first copyright-infringement dispute involving website search-engine technology. Legal experts, the Chinese media, and the Supreme Court of China have paid close attention to the case, especially as it is related to China’s ongoing legislative effort to improve protection of intellectual property. The translation below is the appellate opinion in this …

Justice, And Only Justice, You Shall Pursue: Network Neutrality, The First Amendment And John Rawls's Theory Of Justice, Amit M. Schejter, Moran Yemini

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

As broadband becomes the public's technology of choice to access the Internet, it is also emerging as the battlefield upon which the struggle for control of the Internet is being fought. Operators who provide physical access to the service claim the right to discriminate among the content providers who use the infrastructure in which the operators have invested. In contrast, content providers warn that exercising such a policy would "undermine the principles that have made the Internet such a success."[...] For academic observers, analysis of this issue has thus far been confined to the areas of property law, innovation, and …

Copyright And Youtube: Pirate's Playground Or Fair Use Forum?, Kurt Hunt

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The entertainment industry has a history of framing new technology as piracy that threatens its very existence, regardless of the potential benefits of the technology or the legal limits of copyright rights. In the case of YouTube, copyright owners' attempts to retain content control negatively impact the public's ability to discuss culture in an online world. This implicates the basic policy behind fair use: to prevent copyright law from "stifl[ing] the very creativity which that law is designed to foster." The internet has become a powerful medium for expression. It is a vital tool in today's world for sharing original …