Internet Law Commons^™

The Internet Is Not A Super Highway: Using Metaphors To Communicate Information And Communications Policy, Kristen Jakobsen Osenga

Law Faculty Publications

Do metaphors influence our information policy preferences? Professor Osenga thinks so, which makes it especially important to choose the right one, as a metaphor is often the primary tool the general public uses to understand information policy. Using a five-point rubric, she evaluates, among others, understanding the Internet as “tubes,” “highway,” “space (cyberspace),” “coffee shop/bar” and “cloud.” Osenga finds them all lacking in important ways. However, she believes the metaphor of the Internet as “ecosystem” is very promising and deserves to be further developed.

Certainty At Last?: A "New" Framework For Electronic Contracting In Singapore, Eliza Mik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore is the first Asian country to accede to the UNCITRAL Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (“CUECIC” or “Convention”). Upon accession, the Singaporean Electronic Transactions Act (“ETA” or “Act”) was repealed and re-enacted in a modified version, with effect from 1 July 2010. The modified ETA retains the framework of the original ETA but adds or amends certain provisions dealing with electronic contracting to align domestic e-commerce regulations with the Convention. Accordingly, Singapore is not only the first Asian nation to accede to the CUECIC but also the first nation to implement some of its …

The Electronic Silk Road: How The Web Binds The World In Commerce, Anupam Chander

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

On the ancient Silk Road, treasure-laden caravans made their arduous way through deserts and mountain passes, establishing trade between Asia and the civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean. Today’s electronic Silk Roads ferry information across continents, enabling individuals and corporations anywhere to provide or receive services without obtaining a visa. But the legal infrastructure for such trade is yet rudimentary and uncertain. If an event in cyberspace occurs at once everywhere and nowhere, what law applies? How can consumers be protected when engaging with companies across the world?

In this accessible book, cyber-law expert Anupam Chander provides the first thorough …

The Anonymous Internet, Bryan H. Choi

Publications

This Article argues in favor of regulating online anonymity, not from the standpoint that doing so will prevent harmful abuses or improve security, but instead that refusing to do so will ultimately harm other liberty interests. One principle that has emerged from cyberlaw scholarship is that we should safeguard the Internet’s "generativity"— a key attribute representing the latitude and plasticity with which a technology (like the Internet) can be adapted to perform new, unanticipated uses—because generativity is the root source of the Internet’s unique vitality. Yet, if we want regulators to leave generativity alone, we must offer them another point …

Real Masks And Real Name Policies: Applying Anti-Mask Case Law To Anonymous Online Speech, Margot E. Kaminski

Publications

The First Amendment protects anonymous speech, but the scope of that protection has been the subject of much debate. This Article adds to the discussion of anonymous speech by examining anti-mask statutes and cases as an analogue for the regulation of anonymous speech online. Anti-mask case law answers a number of questions left open by the Supreme Court. It shows that courts have used the First Amendment to protect anonymity beyond core political speech, when mask-wearing is expressive conduct or shows a nexus with free expression. This Article explores what the anti-mask cases teach us about anonymity online, including proposed …

Protection From The Protectors: Does The Competition Act Provide An Answer To The Misuse Of Technological Protection Measures?, Keith D. Rose

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

McOrmond suggested that this linkage of authorized content and devices may fall within the definition of tied selling:

If you are a competitor of the members of the DVD CCA, or for any reason cannot sign on to their contractual obligations, you will not receive the keys to encode your own content or decode content. It should be reviewed by the Competition Bureau to determine whether such contractual obligations should be allowed. Tying the ability to access content encoded with DVD CCA keys requiring a DVD CCA-approved access device seems like a text- book example of “tied selling” under section …

C-11 Et L'Information Sur Le Régime Des Droits: Regard Rétrospectif Et Prospectif, Antoine Guilman

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

La récente adoption du projet de loi C-11, portant modification de la Loi sur le droit d’auteur, change aujourd’hui considérablement la donne. En effet, son article 41.22 instaure désormais un régime propre à l’information sur le régime des droits. Il devient dès lors nécessaire de remettre en contexte ce texte, pour l’appréhender pleinement et comprendre l’approche retenue par le Canada en matière de protection de l’information sur le régime des droits.

Dans cette perspective, nous porterons, d’une part, un regard rétrospectif sur l’évolution technologique récente et les solutions apportées au plan juridique en matière d’information sur le régime des droits …

Privacy And Publicly Available Personal Information, Teresa Scassa

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article begins with a review of the structure of PIPEDA in order to situate the exception within its statutory context. This is followed by a detailed consideration of the exception for publicly available information. The article then offers a discussion of whether the scope of this exception should be expanded, and offers an alternative.

Big Brother's Shadow: Decline In Reported Use Of Electronic Surveillance By Canadian Federal Law Enforcement, Nicholas Koutros, Julien Demers

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Despite popular perception of increased government surveillance, particularly since 9/11, a longitudinal study of the Annual Reports on the Use of Electronic Surveillance, published by Public Safety Canada between 1973 and 2011, demonstrates the opposite trend. This article first outlines this decline to situate the use of electronic surveillance by federal law enforcement. The second section of the article advances legal, political, and practical influences which are likely contributing to the diminished use of wiretapping by police. The purpose of this article is to present quantitative evidence to better inform the ongoing debate around extending “lawful access” regimes in Canada. …

Cyber Deterrence, Eric Talbot Jensen

Faculty Scholarship

Cyber operations by both state actors and non-state actors are increasing in frequency and severity. As nations struggle to defend their networks and infrastructure, their ability to apply the principles of deterrence to cyber activities correspondingly increases in importance. Cyber deterrence offers much more flexibility and increased options from traditional deterrence methodologies developed in the Cold War’s nuclear age. In addition to traditional retaliation, cyber deterrence includes options such as taking legal action; and making networks invisible, resilient, and interdependent. It also presents new ways to view and apply accepted methodologies such as invulnerability. As the U.S. continues to develop …

The Destruction Of An Empire: Will Viacom End Youtube's Reign?, Adam Shatzkes

Touro Law Review

In a pre-Napster world Congress sought to promote theadvancement and development of the Internet. To facilitate this expansion, Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), which protects internet service providers from copyright infringement liability. Due, in part, to the DMCA, the Internet has expanded beyond Congress' expectations. With the growth of the Internet, however, inequities have been created. YouTube epitomizes these inequities and Viacom's suit highlights the injustices that have been created. The ease with which copyrighted materials are published on the Internet has made it impossible for copyright owners to adequately protect their works. It is time for …

Do Students Turn Over Their Rights When They Turn In Their Papers? A Case Study Of Turnitin.Com, Stephen Sharon

Touro Law Review

Turnitin is a rapidly growing online anti-plagiarism service subscribed to by thousands of schools in the United States. Though the pursuit of honesty and integrity are at the heart of our academic institutions and the Turnitin anti-plagiarism service, there is a fatal flaw in its execution. This comment examines the copyright and fair use arguments presented by four Virginia students asserting that Turnitin violated their intellectual property rights. This comment goes beyond the facts of the four Virginia students to explore the root issues of a service that collects and distributes the copyrighted works submitted to it by hundreds of …

Possession Of Child Pornography: Should You Be Convicted When The Computer Cache Does The Saving For You?, Giannina Marin

Florida Law Review

This Note examines the concept of electronic possession in the field of child pornography, with the aim of reconciling the basic intuition behind possession with the reality of electronic data. Part II briefly discusses the case and statutory history that placed child pornography outside the bounds of the First Amendment and led to constitutionally valid prohibitions on the possession of child pornography. Part III sets forth the various ways in which individuals can access electronic child pornography, with a focus on the user’s level of interaction. Part IV discusses factors that the courts have considered in defining what constitutes possession …

Clicking Away Confidentiality: Workplace Waiver Of Attorney-Client Privilege, Adam C. Losey

Florida Law Review

In workplace waiver cases, a schism is quietly developing. Some courts are discreetly (and perhaps inadvertently) abandoning the traditionally accepted narrow interpretation of attorney-client privilege in favor of a broad protective approach on public policy grounds. Others continue to adhere to traditional doctrine. A clash between these two schools of thought may be inevitable. The universal application of a rebuttable presumption that an employee has waived attorney-client privilege could avert a direct collision between these two schools of thought and establish a semblance of predictability in workplace waiver cases.

Part II points out the growing and unspoken abandonment of traditional …

Student Speech Rights In The Digital Age, Mary-Rose Papandrea

Florida Law Review

For several decades courts have struggled to determine when, if ever, public schools should have the power to restrict student expression that does not occur on school grounds during school hours. In the last several years, courts have struggled with this same question in a new context—the digital media. The dramatic increase in the number of student speech cases involving the Internet, mobile phones, and video cameras begs for a closer examination of the scope of school officials’ authority to censor the expression of minors as well as the scope of juvenile speech rights generally. This Article takes a close …

Playing The Mysterious Game Of Online Love: Examining An Emerging Trend Of Limiting § 230 Immunity Of The Communications Decency Act And The Effects On E-Dating Websites, Matthew Altenberg

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Catch Me If You Can: An Analysis Of New Enforcement Measures And Proposed Legislation To Combat The Sale Of Counterfeit Products On The Internet, Jeffrey A. Lindenbaum, David Ewen

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cybercrime And The Law: Challenges, Issues, And Outcomes, Susan W. Brenner

School of Law Faculty Publications

The exponential increase in cybercrimes in the past decade has raised new issues and challenges for law and law enforcement. Based on case studies drawn from her work as a lawyer, Susan W. Brenner identifies a diverse range of cybercrimes, including crimes that target computers (viruses, worms, Trojan horse programs, malware and DDoS attacks) and crimes in which the computer itself is used as a tool (cyberstalking, cyberextortion, cybertheft, and embezzlement). Illuminating legal issues unique to investigations in a digital environment, Brenner examines both national law enforcement agencies and transnational crime, and shows how cyberspace erodes the functional and empirical …

Cyberterrorism In The Context Of Contemporary International Law, Yaroslav Shiryaev

San Diego International Law Journal

The present Article addressed the legal issues surrounding cyberterrorism. In the first chapter, the author explains why cyberterrorism should be described as “the use of electronic networks taking the form of a cyber-attack to commit a) a substantive act criminalized by the existing legal instruments prohibiting terrorism, or b) an act of terrorism under international customary law.” Further, with a special emphasis on existing anti-terrorism conventions and customary international law, it was demonstrated which actors are likely to engage in acts of cyberterrorism (non-state actors, corporations and individuals), as well as which targets are protected by law and which aims …

Smoking Out Big Tobacco: Some Lessons About Academic Freedom, The World Wide Web, Media Conglomeration, And Public Service Pedagogy From The Battle Over The Brown & Williamson Documents, Clay Calvert

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.