Internet Law

Law 633. This course will examine how the law is responding to the various challenges posed by the Internet. It will look at the application of various sources of law including the United States Constitution, state and federal statutes and regulations and common law principles to the Internet as well as a variety of proposals for new or revised laws to regulate this means of both communication and commerce. Topics to be discussed include efforts to censor the Internet, the legal status of domain names, on-line defamation, jurisdiction over cyberspace and Internet crimes. The course does not require any technical expertise, but instead will focus on the way in which the legal system responds to the creation of new technology either by reasoning by analogy and applying existing legal principles or by creating new legal categories and regulatory techniques.

Required Reading

There is no required casebook for this course. All of the reading material for this course will be posted on this website as the semester progresses. You can expect that the material typically will be available about 3 weeks in advance of the class where it will be discussed. Case material will usually be in the form of a .pdf so that every student in the class will have an identically formatted version of each case.

In addition to the assigned reading, if you scroll down to optional class materals, you will find a variety of links to material related to this assignments including background information about some of the cases, technical information that may be helpful in understanding the analysis of the legal issues, and a variety of other materials.

Syllabus

Assignments

Assignment Four (Trademark Law and the Internet)

The topic for this week concerns the interaction of trademark law and domain names. The problems in this area arise because the domain name registration system is separate from the system for registering trademarks thus permitting the registration of a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to a registered trademark by someone with no legitimate rights to that name. For students who want a basic introduction to trademark law, a good online introduction is available at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm

III. Trademark Law and the Internet
A. Challenging Registrations of Domain Names Under the Lanham Act

Panavision Int'l, L.P. v. Toeppen, Selected Provisions of the Lanham Act, Planned Parenthood v. Bucci, Taylor Building Corp. v. Benfield, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals v. Doughney, Weather Underground, Inc. v. NCS, Inc., America Online, Inc. v. AOL.org

Assignment Five (Trademark Law and the Internet)

The topic for this week continues the consideration of the interaction of trademark law and the internet. It first focuses on the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, an online arbitration process to resolve such disputes that is an alternative to conventional litigation. It then considers the use of trademarks in the context of keyword advertising rather than in the registration of domain names.

B. The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
C. Keyword Advertising

Rules for UDRP, Educational Testing Service v. aaa, Munchkin, Inc. v. Mamas and Munchkins, LLC, Dluhos v. Strasberg, 1-800 Contacts, Inc. v. WhenU.com, Inc., Rescuecom Corp. v. Google, Inc.

Assignment Six (The First Amendment and Censorship of Internet Content)

IV. The First Amendment and Censorship of Internet Content
A. Sexually Explicit Speech

Reno v. ACLU, United States v. American Library Association, Ashcroft v. ACLU, Center for Democracy & Technology v. Pappert

Assignment Seven (The First Amendment and Censorship of Internet Content)

B. The First Amendment Applied to Other Types of Internet Speech

Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools, Ostergren v. Cuccinelli, Doe v. 2TheMart.com Inc., Solers, Inc. v. Doe, Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Corley