Legislation Commons^™

Resilience: Building Better Users And Fair Trade Practices In Information, Andrea M. Matwyshyn

Federal Communications Law Journal

Symposium: Rough Consensus and Running Code: Integrating Engineering Principles into Internet Policy Debates, held at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Innovation and Competition on May 6-7, 2010.

In the discourse on communications and new media policy, the average consumer-the user-is frequently eliminated from the equation. This Article presents an argument rooted in developmental psychology theory regarding the ways that users interact with technology and the resulting implications for data privacy law. Arguing in favor of a user-centric construction of policy and law, the Author introduces the concept of resilience. The concept of resilience has long been discussed in …

The Future Of Digital Communications Research And Policy, Scott Wallsten

Federal Communications Law Journal

Symposium: Essays from Time Warner Cable's Research Program on Digital Communications.

Electronic Communications And The Law: Help Or Hindrance To Telecommuting?, Jennifer C. Dombrow

Federal Communications Law Journal

During 1997, an estimated 11.1 million workers preformed some portion of their work by telecommuting. This number is expected to grow as employers continue to discover the benefits that can result from instituting a telecommuting policy. This growth may be hindered, however, by controversy concerning employee privacy rights. Although the use of electronic communications in the workplace is common, the laws addressing employee privacy rights and employer monitoring rights concerning these communications are ambiguous. New legislation is necessary to specifically define the respective rights of employers and employees. Without this new legislation, the benefits of electronic communications in the workplace, …

Your Life As An Open Book: Has Technology Rendered Personal Privacy Virtually Obsolete?, Sandra Byrd Peterson

Federal Communications Law Journal

As society becomes increasingly automated, the ability of individuals to protect their "information privacy" is practically nonexistent. Information that was once kept on paper in filing cabinets is now on-line in computer databases. At the touch of a computer key, a complete stranger can conveniently access and compile from a variety of different sources a dossier of intimate, personal information about people without their knowledge. Perhaps more shocking is the current lack of legal recourse available to contest the nonconsensual use of personal data.

In this Note, the Author examines the currently loose constitutional and common-law protections and suggests strategies …