Internet Law Commons^™

Letter From The Editor, Lisa Taylor Hudson, Dharmesh S. Vashee

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Welcome to the fifth issue of The Richmond Journal of Law & Technology! This issue represents a watershed experience for JOLT, as this is the first time we have published more than three issues in a single year! The timing of this issue's publication is also significant because on April 5, 2000, we will celebrate the fifth birthday of our journal. As the oldest exclusively online law review in the U.S., we continue to enjoy our leadership role in the publication of academic pieces dedicated to the marriage of law and technology.

Metatags: Seeking To Evade User Detection And The Lanham Act, Terrell W. Mills

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

You hop on the World Wide Web ready to do some Internet surfing. You decide to check the scores from last night's football game. You head to your favorite search engine and then pause . . . "where will the scores be" you ask yourself. You decide upon ESPN, because you know they have it all when it comes to sports. So, you type in ESPN and click on the "SEARCH" button. You eagerly await the return of the results to head out to the ESPN homepage to find out if your alma mater beat the in-state rival in the …

Examined Lives: Informational Privacy And The Subject As Object, Julie E. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In the United States, proposals for informational privacy have proved enormously controversial. On a political level, such proposals threaten powerful data processing interests. On a theoretical level, data processors and other data privacy opponents argue that imposing restrictions on the collection, use, and exchange of personal data would ignore established understandings of property, limit individual freedom of choice, violate principles of rational information use, and infringe data processors' freedom of speech. In this article, Professor Julie Cohen explores these theoretical challenges to informational privacy protection. She concludes that categorical arguments from property, choice, truth, and speech lack weight, and mask …

Internet Gambling: Is It Worth The Risk, James R. Hobbs

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Internet Gambling Policy: Prohibition Versus Regulation, Theresa E. Loscalzo

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Gambling And The Law: The Future Of Internet Gambling, I. Nelson Rose

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Web Word War (Www): A New Approach To Trademark Infringement And Unfair Competition Claims Under The Lanham Act In Brookfield Communications, Inc. V. West Coast Entertainment Corp., Melissa M. Mcgann

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Using The Digital Millennium Copyright Act To Limit Potential Copyright Liability Online, Jonathan A. Friedman, Francis M. Buono

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Any online service provider ("OSP"), including a website operator, that accepts user postings or includes content from other parties on its website or online service is at risk that it will be held liable if such third-party content infringes the copyright of another party. Liability for copyright infringement is an expensive proposition and can run into the millions of dollars. Thus, an OSP must be vigilant in limiting its potential liability in connection with such third-party content.

Opening Remarks At The Ninth Annual Austin Owen Symposium, John Plunkett

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Let me say it's a pleasure to be here. It's both a privilege and a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak with you on topics certainly near and dear to my heart having to do with technology. It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to the 9th Annual Austin Owen Lecture, and to welcome you to my alma mater. It's a pleasure for me to be back here on this campus almost weekly, participating in a variety of different activities.

E-Business, E-Commerce & The Law, John F. Rudin

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Advocates argue that UCITA (Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act) provides rules of the road for the technology highway much like the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) has done with our commerce system for several decades. However, the UCC provides a level playing field where businesses and customers are aware of the rules prior to conducting business. Among its many shortcomings, UCITA lacks the notice and disclosure features of the UCC. A simple double click of a mouse with the cursor on an icon that reads "I accept" binds the customer to a contract that has not been reviewed prior to purchase. …

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 …

Cyber-Nations, Ruth Wedgwood

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Internet Is Changing The Public International Legal System, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Online Service Provider Copyright Liability: Is The Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Answer?, Justin Williamson

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Should The Brandenburg V. Ohio Incitement Test Apply In Media Violence Tort Cases?, Rodney A. Smolla

Law Faculty Publications

Imagine that you are a newly-installed justice of a state supreme court. An array of cases come before you in your first term posing, in a variety of contexts, questions concerning the extent to which tort liability may be imposed to compensate victims for injuries or death allegedly caused by presentation of violent material in the media. Here are the cases:

I. The manufacturers of a violent video game are sued for wrongful death by the families of victims of school children murdered in a killing spree at a high school. The plaintiffs allege that the teen-aged boy who committed …

Going Private: Technology, Due Process, And Internet Dispute Resolution, Elizabeth G. Thornburg

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Despite cliches about Internet speed, disputes that arise on and about the Internet can be time-consuming to resolve, legally murky, and factually complex. In response, Internet players with market power are opting out: mandatory arbitration is replacing both substantive law and court procedure, and technological remedies are providing self-help without any dispute resolution at all. These alternative procedures tend to move faster than courts and to cost their corporate creators less than lawsuits. They are also structured to maximize the success of the powerful. But faster is not always better. Cheap is not always fair or accurate. Market power is …

Paradigm Changes In Telecommunications Regulation, Phil Weiser

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Wrong Tool For The Right Job: Are Commercial Websites Places Of Public Accommodation Under The Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990?, Patrick Maroney

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The text of the ADA does not support such an extension. The interpretative canons of "noscitur a sociis" and "ejusdem generis" dictate that "places of public accommodation" refer exclusively to physical facilities. The canons also sufficiently resolve any possible statutory ambiguities, thereby foreclosing the opportunity for contrary agency interpretations. Although the intentionally broad purpose and design of the ADA make the statute an attractive avenue for advocates of online expansion, that same purpose and design limit the ADA to physical facilities. This note addresses the issues in two parts. First, it presents the arguments just listed. Second, it recognizes the …

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 …

Taxing The Reticulum Taxation And Tariff Issues In Electronic Commerce, Neil Lovett Wilkinson

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis will explore, first within a historical context, and second, in a contemporary model, the impact and effect of electronic commerce in both a general and Electronic magazines. The thesis will explore governmental and legal responses, from a taxation and tariff point of view to the challenges posed by commercial transactions initiated and completed via the Internet and the World Wide Web. The broad question is therefore presented: How should governments, primarily American state and local governments, but also governments worldwide, respond to changes in technology that have a direct effect on the way business is conducted within their …

Liability Issues Facing Online Businesses, David E. Shipley

Scholarly Works

Online businesses are confronted by a wide variety of liability issues covering almost the full range of the standard law school curriculum. The liability problems that face a small business in Vidalia, Georgia, which is selling Vidalia onion products at specialty stores, through print advertising, and by mail, do not go away when the business starts marketing through a Web site. In fact, there might be more exposure doing business online, and there are variations depending upon the nature of the business in question. For example, as discussed below, an Internet Service Provider ("ISP") like America Online has worries that …

State Taxation Of Electronic Commerce: Perspectives On Proposals For Change And Their Constitutionality, Kendall L. Houghton, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

Over the past few years, an enormous amount of attention has been devoted to the problems raised by state taxation of electronic commerce, possible solutions to those problems, and, more recently, the question of whether there is a ‘problem‘ at all. We have both been, and continue to be, deeply involved in the debate over these issues -- a debate that has sometimes generated more heat than light. We view this forum as furnishing us an opportunity to take a step back from the fray and to offer our views not only on the critical issues that are dominating the …

Electronic Records And Signatures Under The Federal E-Sign Legislation And The Ueta, Robert A. Wittie, Jane K. Winn

Articles

Federal legislation establishing legal parity between electronic records and signatures and their paper and ink counterparts was signed into law June 30, 2000, and became effective, at least for most purposes, on October 1. The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN or the Act) effectively sweeps away a myriad of anachronistic and inconsistent state and federal requirements for paper and ink documents and signatures. In so doing, E-SIGN eliminates many of the legal uncertainties that have surrounded the use of electronic media in commerce and should enable businesses and consumers alike to more fully realize the cost …

An Analysis Of California's Common And Statutory Law Dealing With Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail: An Argument For Revision, Calvin Whang

San Diego Law Review

This Comment will examine the law governing unsolicited commercial electronic mail in California. Part II details the growth of the Internet and unsolicited commercial electronic mail. Part III examines the law of trespass to chattel as applied to unsolicited commercial electronic mail in California. Part IV examines recent legislative efforts to regulate spam in California. Part V analyzes the implications of the new unsolicited electronic mail legislation in California. Finally, Part VI details some suggested revisions to the California statute dealing with unsolicited commercial electronic mail.

U.S. Taxation Of Profits From Internet Software Sales - An Electronic Commerce Case Study, J. Clifton Fleming Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Strike Two: An Analysis Of The Child Online Protection Act’S Constitutional Failures, Heather L. Miller

Federal Communications Law Journal

Congress's first attempt to regulate minors' access to sexually explicit material via the Internet failed. Congress responded with the Child Online Protection Act, which, despite its narrower scope, cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny. This Notes delves into the constitutionality of Congress's second attempt by addressing the difficulty of applying the vague "harmful to minors" definition to the Internet medium and the economic and technological unavailability of the Act's affirmative defenses. This Note concludes with an explanation as to why legislation is an ineffective mechanism to address the problem of minors' access to online pornography.

Privacy And Democracy In Cyberspace, Paul M. Schwartz

Vanderbilt Law Review

In this Article, Professor Schwartz depicts the widespread, silent collection of personal information in cyberspace. At present, it is impossible to know the fate of the personal data that one generates online. Professor Schwartz argues that this state of affairs degrades the health of a deliberative democracy; it cloaks in dark uncertainty the transmutation of Internet activity into personal information that will follow one into other areas and discourage civic participation. This situation also will have a negative impact on individual self- determination by deterring individuals from engaging in the necessary thinking out loud and deliberation with others upon which …

Zoning Speech On The Internet: A Legal And Technical Model, Lawrence Lessig, Paul Resnick

Michigan Law Review

Speech, it is said, divides into three sorts - (1) speech that everyone has a right to (political speech, speech about public affairs); (2) speech that no one has a right to (obscene speech, child porn); and (3) speech that some have a right to but others do not (in the United States, Ginsberg speech, or speech that is "harmful to minors," to which adults have a right but kids do not). Speech-protective regimes, on this view, are those where category (1) speech predominates; speech-repressive regimes are those where categories (2) and (3) prevail. This divide has meaning for speech …

The Virtual Wild, Wild West (Www): Intellectual Property Issues In Cyberspace—Trademarks, Service Marks, Copyrights, And Domain Names, Jeffrey J. Look

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Digital Consumer: The Limits Of Cyberspace Utopianism, John Rothchild

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.