OVERVIEW | SYLLABUS | REQUIREMENTS | BIBLIOGRAPHY | WEB RESOURCESSYLLABUS FOR LAW 276: CYBERLAW
Professor Pamela Samuelson, University of California, Berkeley
COURSE DESCRIPTION
As the Internet has come to be a communications network for the masses and for commercial activities, legal authorities have gotten more interested in asserting authority over it and the activities of those who use it. Initially, the questions facing legal decisionmakers tended to concern important but relatively straightforward questions about how to categorize this new medium and those who use it (e.g., should the Internet be regulated like the print media or like broadcasting, and should online service providers be treated more like bookstores or like publishers?). More recently, broader and deeper questions have arisen about the role of law in this new domain. These have ranged from concerns about the nature of self-identity (e.g., do I have a "right" to engage in anonymous or pseudonymous activities?) to concerns about national sovereignty (e.g., what powers do governments effectively have to regulate activities occurring in cyberspace?).
Embedded in much of the discourse about cyberlaw issues are differing visions (or Internet dreams, to use Mark Stefik's metaphor) about the emerging information environment in a globally networked world. Some of these visions are utopian, some distopian in character. Unsurprisingly, the more anarchic or libertarian end of the spectrum tends to regard plans for heavily regulated information environments (whether done by the government of Singapore or imagined by the Christian Coalition) as distopian whereas the regulators reserve this label for the anarchists. In addition to recognizing and assessing these competing visions, let us also inquire whether (or to what extent) there is a technological imperative that dictates that this new environment will develop in a particular way. Insofar as there are choices we can make about regulating this new environment, what are those choices and what consequences will they have if we choose them? How much can we count on information technologies to solve the pro
Topics and Readings for:
- CLASS 1 (1/22/97)
- CLASS 2 (1/29/97)
- CLASS 3 (2/5/97)
- CLASS 4 (2/12/97)
- CLASS 5 (2/19/97)
- CLASS 6 (2/26/97)
- CLASS 7 (3/5/97)
- CLASS 8 (3/12/97)
- CLASS 9 (3/19/97)
- Spring Recess (3/26/97)
- CLASS 10 (4/2/97)
- CLASS 11 (4/9/97)
- CLASS 12 (4/16/97)
- CLASS 13 (4/23/97)
- CLASS 14 (4/30/97)
- CLASS 15 (5/7/97)
- REMAINING DATES
CLASS 1 (1/22/97) Introduction to Cyberlaw
Recommended reading:
Kevin Hughes, Entering the World-Wide Web: A Guide to Cyberspace
Findings of Fact, part II of ACLU v. Reno decision (describing the Internet)
You can locate this at the Center for Democracy and Technology SiteEugene Volokh, Computer Media For the Legal Profession, 94 Mich. L. Rev. 2058 (1996) (describing various resources available to law professionals on the Internet)
CLASS 2 (1/29/97) Debate over rights to control temporary copying and digital transmissions of copyrighted works and standards for liability of online service providers as a matter of U.S. and international law
Required reading:
Report of the Clinton Administration's Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights of the Information Infrastructure Task Force, Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure (Sept. 1995) (widely known as the "White Paper"), pp.63-70, 114-124
Pamela Samuelson, The U.S. Digital Agenda at WIPO, draft article for the Virginia J. Int'l L. (as of 12/31/96)
Recommended reading:
John Perry Barlow, The New Economy of Ideas, WIRED 2.03 (1994)
Jane C. Ginsburg, Putting Cars on the "Information Superhighway": Authors, Exploiters, and Copyright in Cyberspace, 95 Colum. L. Rev. 1466 (1995)
Niva Elkin-Koren, Copyright Law and Social Dialogue on the Information Superhighway: The Case Against Copyright Liability of Bulletin Board Operators, 13 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L. J. 345 (1995)
CLASS 3 (2/5/97) WIPO Copyright Treaty Obligations as regards rights management information and regulation of "black-box" technologies
Required reading:
White Paper pp. 177-200, 230-235
Pamela Samuelson, Technological Protection for Copyrighted Works (draft article as of Jan. 1996)
Recommended reading:
Julie E. Cohen, A Right to Read Anonymously: A Closer Look at "Copyright Management in Cyberspace, 28 Conn. L. Rev. 981 (1996)
CLASS 4 (2/12/97) Proposals for a new form of legal protection for the contents of databases
Required reading:
Basic Proposal for a WIPO Treaty on the Legal Protection of Database Contents
Feist Pub. Co. v. Rural Telephone Service, Inc., 499 U.S. 340 (1991)
[get from LII at Cornell Law School]Recommended reading:
J.H. Reichman & Pamela Samuelson, Intellectual Property Rights in Data?, 50 Vand. L. Rev. 51 (1997)
CLASS 5 (2/19/97) Of shrink-wrap licenses, online contracts, proposed Article 2B of the Uniform Commercial Code, and intellectual property policy
Required reading:
Pro CD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg, 86 F.3d 1447 (7th Cir. 1996) [get from Findlaw.com]
Uniform Commercial Code, Draft Art. 2B pp. 1-33, sections 2B-112, 2B-308
Recommended reading:
Mark A. Lemley, Intellectual Property and Shrink-wrap Licenses, 68 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1239 (1995)
Jane C. Ginsburg, Copyright Without Walls?: Speculations on Literary Property in the Library of the Future, 42 Representations 53 (Spring 1993)
CLASS 6 (2/26/97) Commerce infrastructure issues
Student team: Ethan Christensen, John Heath, Daniel Yost
Part 1 of 2: E-cash
Required reading:
- Information Infrastructure Task Force, A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce
- E-money mini-FAQ. This is a very short question and answer sheet regarding e-money.
- This is a short position paper on the "Unintended Consequences of E-cash" for a conference that will be held in two weeks in Burlingame (very timely). (Thanks to Gabe for the cite).
- "Regulating Financial Services in the Marketspace: The Public's Interests". This is a longer, but very good paper that was delivered in Australia which addresses a rich array of issues. The reader may or may not also be amused by a little America-bashing and the author's willingness to point out various failings of the other speakers at the conference.
- Ira Magaziner Report M. This is already on the syllabus for the class. For our purposes, you only need to look at the "Financial Issues" section which contains 2 subsections (1) Customs and Taxation; (2) Electronic Payment Systems. When I printed the article out, these were pages 4-6.
Recommended reading:
- "The Information Economy: How much will two bits be worth in the digital marketplace?" A very short and very worthwhile article by SIMS Dean Hal Varian.
- Article from the journal of Online law covering "Cyberpayment Infrastructure."
- "E-money (that's what I want)." Article from Hotwired.
- "Electronic Payment Schemes." This contains a list and info regarding all the payment schemes that are currently within the realm of conception.
- For the very dedicated, "Money - Past, Present, and Future" -- you guessed it, the historical perspective...
- "Electronic Money or E-money." A good site with many links to other good sites.
Part 2 of 2: Taxation
Required reading:
- "Logging on to Tax Policy in Cyberspace White Paper" by the Interactive Services Organization.
Read the following sections:
- Section III: True Essence . . .
- Section IV: Nexus
- "Selected Tax Policy Implications of Global Electronic Commerce." This is actually a link to a summary, the full text is viewable via a link at the bottom of the page.
Read the following sections:
- Executive Summary
- 6. Tax Policy . . .
- 7.1 Introduction
- 7.2.3 U.S. Tax Jurisdiction . . .
- 8.6 Disintermediation
- From the Internet Tax Policy Conference
- In the paper by Hellerstein ("Taxation of Telecomm. . . .") read:
- Pages 20-21 ("Sales Tax Issues")
- Pages 27-32 ("Consensus, Conflict . . .")
- In the paper called "Sales Taxation of Telecommunications Service in the State of Utah", read the section entitled "The Taxation of Internet Access" (Roughly 2 pages half way through the article).
Recommended reading:
- "PROP 13 MEETS THE INTERNET: HOW STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCES ARE BECOMING ROAD KILL ON THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY." Arguing that internet sales will erode local government's sales tax base.
- Pages 7-14 of the Hellerstein article summarizing the points in the US Treasury document.
- Various articles at:
- http://www.news.com/
On the right hand side of the screen there is a search window. Type in "Tax" and tell it to search. Several short tax articles have been published there recently. After you read the first one, related tax stories should be listed on the right side of the page.
CLASS 7 (3/5/97) Trademark issues in Cyberspace
Specific questions about the assignment may be addressed to:
Brad Simon, Gretchen O'Neal, and Scott Bain.Questions to Consider (also note the task in question 5):
- Trademarks in General:
- (1) After reading the general materials on trademarks, ask yourself "How should trademark infringement on the Internet be defined?" Consider the problems that may be caused by the fact that the Internet is a GLOBAL forum, whereas trademark and trade name rights can arise in very narrow geographical areas or industries (thus, in the "non-Internet" world, you can imagine many scenarios in which rights in the same or similar marks or names can co-exist in different parties...can this occur on the Internet? How?) (See the McDonald and Dueker articles).
- (2) Although putting trademark (and copyright) notices on a web site will alert others to your asserted rights in the material, is there any EFFECTIVE way to monitor for and prevent infringement, given that others all over the world can view and download information from your site? (e.g. see the Playboy and Sega cases in the recommended readings). Will international harmonization of trademark laws help to prevent such infringement?
- (3) In creating your own multimedia work (such as a web site) that includes parts of works by third parties, how effective is licensing as a way to protect yourself from being sued for trademark (or copyright) infringement. To which aspects of your Web site need you attach trademark or copyright notice, and are there any scenarios in which you should you be held liable if infringement of the third parties' works occurs via your Website? (for general info, see Multimedia Rights article).
- Domain Names and Trademarks:
- (4) Should an Internet domain name be treated more like trademark identifying a good or service, or merely an address identifying the location of an html (or other) document? Consider the popular idea among many Web surfers that a well-known mark, followed by ".com", will take them to the web site for that product or service. For example, to see what your favorite cartoon character is up to, go to "www.garfield.com." To check on another favorite character, visit "www.roadrunner.com." Are you surprised at the result? How about checking on automobile information at "www.ford.com" and then "www.dodge.com"? Baseball teams at "www.dodgers.com" and "www.twins.com"? See if you can find another example on the web in which someone could be "fooled" by a domain name address.
- (5) Should any one organization (in the U.S. or otherwise) be given the authority to register all generic top level domain names in a category, such as ".com"? Should such registration be coordinated among all countries? How can such a scheme be administered?
- (6) If you or I sent a registration to InterNIC to register the domain name "mcdonalds.com", should InterNIC be held responsible for checking to see if "McDonald's" is a registered trademark? Should the authorit(ies) registering domain names ever be held responsible for searching to see whether a desired registration infringes on anyone else's federal trademark rights (in any country)? Common law trademark or trade name rights? Rights of publicity? Should the authority bear any responsibility (to either the accusing party, the domain name registrant, or both) AFTER such domain name has been registered? Who should resolve domain name disputes?
- (7) Should we attempt to solve the domain name "problems" discussed above from a legal approach or a technical approach (or neither)? Do we simply need more domain levels (e.g. alternatives to ".com" for commercial sites, or a special "trademark domain name space" as a top level)? Does the answer lie in completely revamping how computers on the Internet are addressed and accessed? Can an existing or new legal doctrine, applied by the courts, provide sufficient relief? How about administrative rules passed by a U.S. agency? Must the approach to a solution be "International" or can the U.S. and other countries proceed on their own?
- Please discuss any initial proposals you come up with on the Listserv. We'll try to flesh out some additional proposals from you during class, so bring your ideas! Thanks.
Required Reading:
- (1)15 U.S.C. 1127 "Trade Name" and "Trademark" definitions at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/1127.html; and 15 U.S.C. 1125(c)Dilution amendment (not yet avail. in the Cornell online site--see Westlaw or Lexis)
- (2)Final Report of the International Ad Hoc Committee: Recommendationsfor Administration and Management of Generic Top Level Domain Names (report to WIPO), at http://www.iahc.org/draft-iahc-recommend-00.html
- (3)The current NSI domain name dispute resolution policy, at http://rs.internic.net/domain-info/internic-domain-6.html
- (4)"Multimedia Rights and Licensing" (Just SKIM this article but pay attention to the sections on licensing issues for the Internet and multimedia), at http://www.oikoumene.com/oikoumene/nobomediarights.html
Recommended Reading:
- (5) For a quick (though already slightly outdated) overview of trademark infringement issues on the Internet, read pp. 13-14 of McDonald et. al,"Intellectual Property and the Internet", The Computer Lawyer (December 1996).
- (6) For a more complete analysis of the issues, see Dueker, "Trademark Law Lost in Cyberspace: Trademark Protection for Internet Addresses," 9 Harv.J.L. & Tech. 483 (1996).
- (7) For all you ever wanted to know about NSI's domain name dispute policy (from the point of view of outspoken critic Carl Oppedahl), see the Oppedahl & Larson site, at http://www.patents.com/nsi.sht. This provides a good overview of the domain name issues.
- (8) Copyright licensing and infringement issues often come up in the same context as trademark infringement issues in creating and maintaining a website. See 17 U.S.C. 401-404 at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17.
- (9) Trademark infringement is often successfully asserted against parties who illegally download documents from the Internet (and in some cases could possibly be easier to prove than copyright infringement). See, e.g.,Playboy v. Frena, 839 F. Supp. 1552 (M.D. Fla. 1993); and Sega v. Maphia, 948 F.Supp. 923 (N.D.Cal., Dec 18, 1996).
- (10) For a collection of trademark articles and recent trademark cases, the Law Journal Extra (National Law Journal) trademark site, at http://www.ljx.com/trademark, is always a good source of information.
CLASS 8 (3/12/97) Online service liability issues
Student team: Ali Majeed, Alvin Naveja, Cliff Numark, Kurt Opsahl, Kimberly Spears
Required and recommended readings and questions
CLASS 9 (3/19/97) Gary Reback on cyberspace antitrust issues
Required reading:
- Joseph Farrell and Garth Saloner, "Installed Base and Compatibility: Innovation, Product Preannouncements, and Predation," 76 American Economic Review 940 (Dec. 1986)
- Gary Reback, "Why Microsoft Must Be Stopped," Upside Magazine 52 (Feb. 1995).
Recommended reading:
- John Cassidy, "The Decline of Economics," The New Yorker 50 (Dec. 2, 1996)
- Alan Ehrenhalt, "Keepers of the Dismal Faith", New York Times (Feb. 23, 1997)
- Charles Morris and Charles Ferguson, "How Architecture Wins Technology Wars" by Harvard Business Review 86 (March-April 1993)
- George Soros, "The Capitalist Threat," Atlantic Monthly 45 (Feb. 1997)
CLASS 10 (4/2/97) Communications Decency Act issues
Student team: Nicole Aruda, Lee Cheng, Daniel Cook, Nick Khadder, Katey Schnitz
Required reading:
Recommended reading:
CLASS 11 (4/9/97) Export control/cryptography issues
Student team: Joshua Ridless, Pam Sergeeff, Gabe Wachob
Required reading:
- Testimony by Stephen T. Walker...
Only read the Overview and How is U.S. Industry Being Affected by Export Controls?
- Why Is the Encryption Policy Debate Important to Internet Users?
- How Encryption Export Restrictions Are Hurting U.S. Businesses
- Encryption Lawsuits
Read the brief summaries of the Bernstein and Karn cases.
- Pro-Code bill online
Skim for overview.
- Law Enforcement in Cyberspace
Janet Reno talking about why we need key escrow and export controls.
- Netscape Policy on Encryption Export
Netscape reaction to escrow and export controls.Recommended reading:
- Data Encryption Software and Technical Data Controls in the United States of America
This is a good FAQ - use it like that. If you have a question, look here. It's a few years old, so technologies have changed, but policy concerns have not.
- OECD Guidelines for Cryptography Policy (Final) March 1997
- U.S. Policies Should Foster Broad Use of Encryption Technologies
Demonstrative of the differences of opinion WITHIN the administration.
- The Applied Cryptography Case
This is a fuller version of the Karn case.
- Testimony submitted for Pro-CODE (S.377) hearing on 3/19/1997
Testimony before Commerce Committee in Senate about ProCode bill - see wonderful testimony by Gabe (gwachob@aimnet.com)
- Minimal Key Lengths for Symmetric Ciphers to Provide Adequate Commercial Security
Talks about the policy issues and some of the technology behind the encryption debate.Reading for Reference/Fun/General Sites:
- ITAR - for reference
- Cyberwire Dispatch... for fun
- Export Controls on Encryption Software by Ira S. Rubenstein: 748 PLI/Comm 309 (Dec. 9, 1996)
- democracy.net
- Electronic Privacy Information Center
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Internet Privacy Coalition
- Encryption Policy Resource Page
- Cypherpunks Home Page
CLASS 12 (4/16/97) Privacy issues
Student team: David Allan, Samir Armaly, Paul Jasper, Ghyo Park, Cynthia Morelli
Required reading:
- "Right to Privacy in the Workplace in the Information Age", by Lloyd Rich. Addresses the right to privacy and the implications of the constitution, federal statutes, state law, and tort law on that issue.
- Fact sheet on employee monitoring developed by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Includes FAQs on computer monitoring, e- and voice-mail monitoring, and workplace privacy protections.
- Proposed sample e- and voice-mail policy developed by the Portland chapter of the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR). Includes brief responses by a labor union and CPSR.
Recommended reading:
- "E-Mail Privacy in the Workplace--To What Extent?"
- "Electronic Messaging and Privacy in the Workplace"
- "Workplace Privacy in an Era of New Technologies"
- Legislation
H.R. 98 Consumer Internet Privacy Protection Act of 1997
- Self-Regulation
eTrust -- Three tiered privacy rating structure
- Technology
That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles by Marc Slayton
- Consumer Privacy in the Online Marketplace
Scan pages 1-28.Sources Of Privacy Protection For Electronic Communications
Constitutional Protections (Key Cases)
- Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
Supreme Court first held that electronic surveillance activities implicated privacy interests protected by the Fourth Amendment. The Court held that electronically listening to a defendant's words spoken into a telephone violated his reasonable expectation of privacy and thus constituted an illegal "search and seizure." Justice Harlan's concurrence, which has been accepted as the test for Fourth Amendment protection, See Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. at 740, held that a person has a legitimate expectation of privacy when (1) he "exhibited an actual (subjective) expectation of privacy" and (2) his subjective expectation of privacy was justifiable under the circumstances.- Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735
The Court held that the installation and use of a pen register to record numbers dialed from the telephone in a defendant's home was not a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment because it did not implicate a legitimate expectation of privacy. Id. at 745-746. Court emphasized the extremely limited scope of the information revealed by the pen register. The Court also found that the defendant had assumed the risk that the numbers he dialed would be disclosed.- United States v. Maxwell, 42 M.J. 568 (U.S.A.F. Ct. Crim. App. 1995)
Court held that a subscriber to an on-line computer service had an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in stored e-mail transmissions.Legislative Protections
- Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, 18 U.S.C. 2510 et seq.
Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, commonly known as the federal wiretapping statute, as amended by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, prohibits the interception, use, or disclosure of protected wire, oral, and electronic communications. Protects on two-tiered system with very strong protection against surveillance or disclosure of the "contents" of communications and almost no protection for non-content transactional details of communication such as types of websites accessed, duration of communication, frequency of calls, order in which sites are accessed, etc. Internet Service providers may disclose any non-content information to any non-government entity without restriction and disclosure to government requires court order based on standard far less strict than probable cause standard.Common Law Protections
- Preemption
While Congress has preempted the field of interception of wire and oral communications by enacting Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, Pub.L. 90-351, 82 Stat. 212 (1968) (codified at 18 U.S.C. 2510 et seq.), See United States v. Carrazana, 921 F.2d 1557, 1562 (11th Cir. 1991), neither the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act nor the ECPA preempt the field of disclosure of electronic communications.
- Types of Privacy Torts
Four types of actionable privacy invasions are generally recognized: (1) intrusion upon one's seclusion; (2) public disclosure of private facts; (3) publicity that places one in a false light; and (4) misappropriation of one's name or likeness for commercial purposes. Courts in most states have recognized at least one of these privacy intrusions. See Restatement (Second) of Torts 652 A-E (1977).Reading List for 4/16
- ECPA- 18 U.S.C. 2510 et seq. (Surveillance Provisions) and 18 U.S.C. 2701-2710
Compare ECPA protection of non-content aspects of communication with provisions of:
- Video Privacy Protection Act-18 U.S.C. 2710 et seq.
- Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 47 U.S.C. 551 (1988).
Questions
- Should statutory use of "personally identifiable information" concept be extended to ECPA's protection of electronic communication?
- Does ECPA's distinction between protection of content and non-content aspects of communication make sense? Why? If not, what types of non-content attributes of a communication should be protected?
CLASS 13 (4/23/97) Additional copyright issues (linking, etc.)
Student team: Sabing Lee, Jeff Marowitz, Laurel Miranda, Garner Weng, John Villareal
Required reading:
- Background: Internet linking
- TotalNews Case: The Washington Post, CNN and Reuters recently sued the internet company TotalNews for "the internet equivalent of pirating copyrighted material."
- Shetland News Case: In Scotland, the Shetland News provided unauthorized links to its competitor's Web page. Did Shetland News try to pass off the work of Shetland Times' reporters as part of its own Web site? Or does the Times just not understand how linking is commonly used on the internet? Read what the judge said.
Recommended reading:
- Hypertext Links: Are They Legal?
- Practical Advice on Online Copyright (discusses TotalNews case)
- May I freely link to the Web sites of others? Someone has set up a link to my Web site without my permission -- what can I do?
- Pamela Samuelson, Fair Use For Computer Programs and Other Copyrightable Works in the Digital Form: The Implications of Sony, Galoob and Sega, 1J. Intell. Prop. L. 49 (1993).
CLASS 14 (4/30/97) Jurisdiction/conflicts/dispute resolution issues
Student team: Gordon Fauth, Mary Heuett, Laurel Jamtgaard, Paola Sangiovanni
Required reading:
- "Law and Borders - The Rise of Law in Cyberspace" by David R. Johnson and David G. Post
"David Johnson and David Post argue that Cyberspace requires a system of rules quite distinct from the laws that regulate physical, geographically-defined territories. Cyberspace challenges the law's traditional reliance on territorial borders; it is a "space" bounded by screens and passwords rather than physical markers. Professor Johnson and Post illustrate how "taking Cyberspace seriously" as a unique place can lead to the development of both clear rules for online transactions and effective legal institutions".Recommended reading:
- "The zones of cyberspace" by Lawrence Lessig in Stanford Law Review, May 1996 (WestLaw cite: 48 Stan. L. Rev. 1403)
CLASS 15 (5/7/97) MUDs/MOOs, Jake Baker, & hackers (crimes of information?)
Student team: Rita Chowdhury, Sheryl Howell, Daniel Peters, Cynthia Tobisman
Required reading:
MUDs and MOOsJake Baker
- Julian Dibbell, A Rape in Cyberspace (Villiage Voice)
This article describes a very interesting story of a case of virtual rape and the reaction of a MOO community.
- "What's the Big Deal over Jake Baker?"
- There is much available on the Internet about the Jake Baker case. For our purposes, all required reading is available through the following on-line source. This seemed to be a fairly comprehensive compilation of pertinent links. It is also a fairly objective treatment of the case (although the documents obtained through the links themselves, of course, are not neutral).
"Jake Baker Information Page"
- Peruse the page, read the current status of the case paragraph
- Read, judge Cohn's ruling (under legal documents link)
Recommended reading:
MUDs and MOOsJake Baker
- Josh Quittner, Johnny Manhattan Meets Furry Muckers (Wired)
- Jennifer L. Mnookin, Virtual(ly) Law: The Emergence of Law in LambdaMOO (Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication)
- Go MOOing. Check out LambdaMOO for yourself (telnet to lambda.moo.mud.org:8888); or BayMOO (telnet to baymoo.sfsu.edu:8888). You can logon as "guest" and explore; there is plenty of help and instruction.
- If you care to browse articles on MUDs and MOOs, there is a Document Library at: http://lucien.sims.berkeley.edu/moo.html
- US v Jake Baker: The Role of Unique Features of Electronic Mail in a 'true threat' analysis", by Heather Brooks-Szachta. (see also various links from above JB Information page)
- Review the legal definitions of "threat" and "obscenity"
- The Jake Baker story in question "Doe" -- By way of warning, we found this story deeply disturbing and not necessary for understanding the issues involved. We call this an "optional" rather than "recommended" reading for that purpose.
TOPICS FOR ADDITIONAL CLASS DISCUSSIONS OR PAPERS
(in no particular order)
Conflicting interests of individuals in privacy as to personal data and of firms that compile such data (e.g., European data protection directive, "cookies" when visiting websites)
Protection of privacy interests in electronic transactions (e.g., anonymity and pseudonymity issues)
Spamming: rights to do or to stop?
Legal infrastructure necessary to enable electronic commerce
Regulation of cyberbanking (vis-à-vis money laundering, fraud, tax collection)
Constitutionality of mandatory key escrow systems
Challenges to the constitutionality of export control regulations as they affect the teaching of encryption algorithms (e.g., Bernstein v. United States)
Constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act (e.g., Reno v. ACLU)
Regulating fantasies on the Internet (e.g., U.S. v. Jake Baker)
Legal responsibilities vis-à-vis MUDs and MOOs
Criminal regulations of computer hackers (e.g., U.S. v. Morris, U.S. v. Riggs, U.S. v. LaMacchia)
Jurisdiction in criminal law matters (e.g., U.S. v. Thomas; Minnesota Attorney General on cybergambling)
Jurisdiction in civil law matters (e.g., Maritz, Inc. v. Cybergold, Inc.)
Cyberspace as its own jurisdiction
Dispute resolution in cyberspace (e.g., the Virtual Magistrate)
The need for new principles to resolve conflicts of laws in cyberspace
Trademark rights and domain names (e.g., MTV v. Adam Curry)
INTERNIC and the need for revision of the domain name assignment system
Universal access to the Internet
Liability of intermediate institutions, such as online service providers, for libel, other torts, and copyright infringement (e.g., Cubby v. CompuServe, Stratton-Oakmont v.
Liability of intermediate institutions for defective electronic information
Using technology to protect private or public interests (e.g., V-chip, Clipper Chip, PICS)
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (how well does it work, should it be expanded?)
Employer and employee interests vis-à-vis electronic privacy (e.g., email and websurfing)
Future of legal citations in digital networked environments
Claims of proprietary rights in electronic versions of judicial opinions and statutes
Future of legal scholarship in digital networked environments (e.g., Hibbitts' prediction of the death of the law review)
Copyright issues arising from linking on the World Wide Web
Online service provider claims of copyright in discussions on their systems
Patent wars in cyberspace (e.g., over digital cash, rights management systems, commercial transaction systems)
Antitrust issues in cyberspace (e.g.,. Justice Dept. investigations of Microsoft over Internet Explorer issues)
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