Cyberspace Law

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

   David Post has a comprehensive outline of the legal
   issues affecting cyberspace, many of which are addressed
   by cypherpunks, at:

      http://www.cli.org/cyberspace/index.html

   It's very much worth reading, pondering and learning
   from.

   Here are excerpts:

   -----

   Law of Cyberspace Seminar

   Fall 1996
   Prof. David G. Post (david.post@counsel.com)

   Introduction

   The emergence of the global network -- the "Internet" and
   its constituent networks -- and the associated "digital
   revolution" -- the ability to access, store, and transmit
   vast amounts of information in digital form (computer
   software, videogames, music, text, etc.) -- presents an
   array of new problems and opportunities for lawyers
   preparing to practice in the 21st Century.  It is
   becoming increasingly evident that the process of
   "mapping" existing legal concepts and tools into this new
   domain is not going to be straightforward, and that a
   number of familiar legal concepts will need to be
   rethought before they can be efficiently applied in the
   new environment.

   The goal of this course is threefold:

   First, to introduce you, by means of a series of specific
   case studies chosen to illustrate the clash between
   existing legal regimes and new technologies, to a
   reasonably comprehensive subset of the legal problems
   that will need to be addressed in this new environment;

   Second, to help you, through fairly intensive work on
   your research papers, to prepare publishable quality
   written work; and

   Third, to help you become comfortable with the
   information-retrieval and transmission capabilities of
   this new medium, both because no discussion of the "law
   of cyberspace" can be very fruitful without some basic
   understanding of the special characteristics of the new
   domain, and because lawyers will increasingly be called
   upon to demonstrate some familiarity with Internet
   navigation as businesses (including law firms)
   increasingly utilize the global network as a means of
   delivering their services.

   [Big snip of bountiful thoughts and links to information
   sites]

   Appendix 3:  Possible Paper Topics

   This list is just designed to get you started thinking
   about possible paper topics.  It is by no means
   exhaustive; feel free to choose a topic not mentioned
   below.

   Protection of employee electronic mail.

   Are new rules required regarding online sexual
   harassment?

   Trademarks and Internet domain names -- can they be
   reconciled?

   Intermediary (system operator) liability for subscribers'
   copyright or trademark infringements or other "wrongful"
   conduct.

   Does Web browsing, or the caching of World Wide Web
   pages, constitute copyright infringement?

   Analysis of electronic shrinkwraps:  Are online
   disclaimers enforceable?  What procedural steps can be
   used to enhance enforceability?

   Jurisdiction and choice of law in cyberspace.

   Dispute resolution in cyberspace.

   Should true anonymity be allowed in online contexts?  Who
   will bear the responsibilities of anonymous actions?

   Taxation in cyberspace (e.g., application of foreign
   states' sales tax laws to online transactions).

   Dataveillance.  The use of online data profiles in
   marketing research.

   Compilation copyrights for collective online activities.

   Legality of online gambling.

   "Moral rights" in cyberspace.

   Analysis of legal issues regarding programs that extract
   information from a user's hard drive and communicate back
   to a central server (Windows 95, Netscape Navigator).

   Data authentication, the use of computer-generated
   evidence and computer-generated signatures in contracts.

   Content regulation in cyberspace: Obscenity, indecency,
   and false advertising

   Licensing and professional liability (e.g. the
   application of licensing schemes and other regulatory
   provisions to professional practice of lawyers, doctors,
   or others on the net).

   Internet self-regulation: cyber-democracy, frontier
   justice, and other regulatory models in cyberspace.

   The control of online defamation.

   Product liability for on-line products.

   Clipper, encryption and decryption.

   Net commerce: Digital money and other solutions.

   Net commerce: Copyright management systems and other
   schemes for charging by the byte.

   Do we need new rules regarding enforcement of the
   antitrust laws in cyberspace?

   -----

   Thanks to David Post for this IP lift lift.