Communications Law Commons^™

Love Thy Neighbor: The Tampere Convention As Global Legislation, Allison Rahrig

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The Internet, 24-hour news sources, and a host of other telecommunications advances have allowed global citizens to become instantaneously informed. With the privilege of real-time updates and acute awareness of the world's events comes the responsibility of being more than a passive observer. Specifically, this Note focuses on the technological improvements in communication during natural disasters-improvements that can be used to assist and aid the victims of catastrophes. In the aftermath of a natural disaster, the country affected is rarely able to provide for its citizens; tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes can (and often do) cripple an entire nation. This …

Foreword: Advertising And The Law, Mark Bartholomew

Buffalo Law Review

This foreword to a special issue of the Buffalo Law Review provides an overview of seven articles addressing the intersection of advertising and law. The special issue stems from a November 2009 conference held at the University at Buffalo Law School. The foreword examines the particular difficulties in characterizing the relationship between advertisers, consumers, and the law. Advertisers promulgate certain symbolic meanings designed to induce consumption. Sometimes these meanings are contested through legal means yet consumers can only participate in advertising's regulatory apparatus indirectly. This results in a dynamic between advertiser and consumer that is difficult to define yet ubiquitous …

Attention Must Be Paid: Commercial Speech, User-Generated Ads, And The Challenge Of Regulation, Rebecca Tushnet

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Stealth Marketing And Antibranding: The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name, Sonia K. Katyal

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Brandjacking On Social Networks: Trademark Infringement By Impersonation Of Markholders, Lisa P. Ramsey

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Advertising And Social Identity, Mark Bartholomew

Buffalo Law Review

This essay takes a stand in the brewing legal academic debate over the consequences of advertising. On one side are the semiotic democratists, scholars who bemoan the ability of advertisers to take control of the meanings that they create through trademark law and other pro-business legal rules. On the other side are those who are more sanguine about the ability of consumers to rework advertising messages and point to several safety valves for free expression existing in the current advertising regulation regime. My take on this debate is that the participants have failed to address the impact of advertising on …

Consumer Counter-Advertising Law And Corporate Social Responsibility, Alberto R. Salazar V.

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Regulating The Airwaves In Israel's Burgeoning Democracy: Why The Israeli High Court Of Justice Should Have Acknowledged Free Speech In The Case Of Arutz Seven, Maya Tarr

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines the role of the Supreme Court of Israel in promoting democracy and freedom of speech, highlighting its interpretation of Basic Laws to include these rights. It critiques the Court's analysis in the Hok Habezek amendment case for not adequately addressing freedom of speech, despite its significant rulings in cases like Kol Haam v. Minister of Interior Affairs.

Fcc V. Fox Television Stations And The Fcc's New Fleeting Expletive Policy, Jerome A. Barron

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article focuses on the Supreme Court's decision in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., 129 S. Ct. 1800 (2009). In that case, the Supreme Court upheld an important change in the FCC indecency regulation. In the past, the FCC's policy had been that the broadcast of a single expletive did not violate FCC indecency policy. In order for such fleeting expletives to be actionable, the FCC required that they had to be repetitive and gratuitous. But in 2004, in response to the use of some expletives by entertainers during the Golden Globe Awards, the FCC changed its policy and …

Derailed By The D.C. Circuit: Getting Network Management Regulation Back On Track, Edward B. Mulligan V

Federal Communications Law Journal

As the Internet continues to play a more central role in the daily lives of Americans, concerns about how Internet service providers manage their networks have arisen. Responding to these concerns and recognizing the importance of maintaining the open and competitive nature of the Internet, the FCC has taken incremental steps to regulate network management practices. Perhaps the most significant of these steps was its August 2008 Memorandum Decision and Order in which the FCC condemned Comcast Corporation's network management practices as "discriminatory and arbitrary." In that Order, the FCC required that Comcast (1) adopt new practices that complied with …

Vertical Separation Of Telecommunications Networks: Evidence From Five Countries, Robert W. Crandall, Jeffrey A. Eisenach, Robert E. Litan

Federal Communications Law Journal

The widespread adoption of mandatory unbundling in telecommunications markets has led to growing interest in mandatory "functional separation," i.e., separation of upstream network operations from downstream retail operations. Since 2002, vertical separation has been implemented in five OECD countries: Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In 2008, the International Telecommunications Union noted "a tremendous amount of interest" in functional separation around the world; and, in April 2009, the European Parliament held its second reading on a new regulatory framework that embraces functional separation as an "exceptional measure." While the U.S. does not currently require unbundling of broadband …

Thwack!! Take That, User-Generated Content!: Marvel Enterprises V. Ncsoft, Carl Michael Szabo

Federal Communications Law Journal

Comic-book heroes show us how to be valiant, how to fight for those less fortunate, and, in some circumstances, how to combat those who break the law. Such is the situation in the case of Marvel Enterprises, Inc. v. NCSofl Corp., a battle between user-generated content and the copyright violations that resulted.

While the issue of copyright liability has been seen in hundreds of comments and notes from courts and attorneys alike, the issue of copyright liability on the internet remains an open question that if not addressed, could endanger the protection afforded to authors. Federal and state suits have …

Music As Speech: A First Amendment Category Unto Itself, David Munkittrick

Federal Communications Law Journal

Perhaps the most ubiquitous of art forms, music accompanies daily activities from shopping to jogging. Music permeates modem society, and there is little question it constitutes an integral mode of expression. Despite recognition of music's worth, however, there is little explanation of music in First Amendment jurisprudence. A rationale for First Amendment protection begins with analysis of the particular medium of speech. Through a foray in musical aesthetics and the history of musical censorship, this Note discusses the role of music in political, societal, and individual experience. Music has had an important role in political events, from the fall of …

The Sound Of Money: Securing Copyright, Royalties, And Creative "Progress" In The Digital Music Revolution, Armen Boyajian

Federal Communications Law Journal

Academics and popular critics alike want to distill, reform, or altogether destroy U.S. copyright law as we know it. Much of this stems from animosity toward the old-guard record industry's alleged practices of overcharging consumers, underpaying royalties to artists, and suing teenagers and grandmas. But what those calling for reform all seem to neglect is a tiny but inevitable fact: for the first time in history, composers and recording artists can keep their copyrights.

Tangible media sales are being replaced by P2P file sharing, retail downloads, and streaming Webcasts. Digital technologies and wireless networks have opened prime channels for music …

Too Much Of A Good Thing: Campaign Speech After Citizens United, Molly J. Walker Wilson

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Putting The Brakes On Libel Tourism: Examining The Effects Test As A Basis For Personal Jurisdiction Under New York's Libel Terrorism Protection Act, Michelle Feldman

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Transitioning To Free Speech: A Case Study On Legal Transfers In Jordanian Jurisprudence, Sarah Joy Gregory

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

In The Shadow Of Innovation, Gaia Bernstein

Cardozo Law Review

We are in the midst of the intellectual property wars. Scholars, judges, legislators, corporations, creators, and inventors disagree about the role of intellectual property rights. Yet, surprisingly everyone agrees about innovation - everyone loves innovation. Innovation appears everywhere: in legal scholarship, case law, legislative hearings, newspapers, and blogs. It is uniformly admired and aspired to - though almost never questioned.

Innovation is often assumed to have historically held a central role in the technology regulating legal regime. This Article presents a study of case law, which demonstrates that contrary to common belief, the celebration of innovation is, in fact, a …

Interactive Computer Service Liability For User-Generated Content After Roommates.Com, Bradley M. Smyer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note explores the future of interactive computer service provider (ICSP) liability for user-generated content under the Communications Decency Act (CDA) after Roommates.com II. Roommates.com II held that a housing website was not entitled to immunity under § 230 of the CDA from federal Fair Housing Act claims, in part because providing preselected answers to a mandatory questionnaire rendered the site an "information content provider" at least partially responsible for creation or development of answers. After examining the historical and legislative origins of ICSP immunity for user-generated content under 47 U.S. C. § 230, this Note argues that courts …

Fcc V. Fox Television Stations And The Role Of Logical Error In Hard Look Review, Samuel G. Brooks

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.