GOVERNMENT & LEGAL ISSUES
SITES
Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce
Home page for the commission charged by the U.S. government with formulating policy on ecommerce and the possibility of taxes on Internet purchases.
BUILDER.COM: Law and the Web: What you don't know can hurt you
Survey of intellectual property law for web developers.
Business Law - Committe on Cyberspace Law
Legal information related to business transactions on the Internet. From the American Bar Association; includes information on privacy, consumer protection, and more.
The Center for Democracy and Technology
The CDT aims to promote democracy in the digital age. Their focus is on privacy and freedom of expression.
Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's rules regarding the information websites can collect from children, and the consent they must get from parents. Rules take effect April 21, 2000. (PDF format.)
Civil Society Internet Forum
An international organization dedicated to democratic participation in Internet governance and citizens' Internet rights.
Department of Justice Section 508 Home Page
Comprehensive information from the Department of Justice on Section 508, which requires that information provided electronically by Federal agencies be accessible to people with disabilities.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Legal news, articles, and action alerts from EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
EPIC Bill Track: Tracking Privacy, Speech, and Cyber-Liberties Bills
A list of, and links to the full text of, bills in Congress related to privacy, speech, and cyber-liberties.
Findings of Fact - United States of America v. Microsoft Corporation
A searchable version of the Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's findings of fact in the Microsoft anittrust trial.
Firstuse.com Online Registry
A feee-based site that timestamps intellectual property, with the aim of providing a record of when people come up with ideas, source code, content, etc.
GigaLaw.com: "Legal Information for Internet Professionals"
"Legal information for Internet and technology professionals, Internet entrepreneurs and the lawyers who serve them." Covers domain name issues, trademark, contract law, and more.
Internet Resources on Media Law
Links to resources and mailing lists dealing with law in both general media, and in cyberspace.
Invoking Law as a Basis for Identity in Cyberspace
This article discusses the de facto laws of the Internet, the laws that real-world institutions try to place on it, and how the identity of participants affect and are affected by these factors.
IVAN HOFFMAN, B.A., J.D. Attorney At Law
This lawyer's website includes articles on trademark and copyright law, and how they apply to the Internet and electronic media.
lawgirl
Information on copyright and trademark as it applies to the Internet, as well as to the music industry.
Nat'l Academy Press, The Digital Dilemma:(1999)
The executive summary and recommendations from a report by the National Research Council, focusing on the play between intellectual property rights and the Internet.
Patent, Copyright & Trademark Law
Information from Nolo Press about patent, copyright, trademarks, and software and multimedia contracts.
politechbot.com: the official politech archive
Archives of the politech mailing list, a moderated mailing list consisting of articles on the intersection of politics and technology.
Regulation of Political Speech: CDT Launches New Resource
The Center for Democracy and Technology's information and resources concerning the Federal Election Commission's proposed campaign finance rules (1999) as they apply to the Internet.
rouse & co. international - intellectual property knowledge
Alerts and articles on intellectual property, especially in relation to the Internet and technology.
State of the First Amendment, 1999: A Survey of Public Attitudes
The results of a survey of the public's attitudes on the First Amendment and the role of the press in U.S. society.
U.S. Trademark Combined Mark Search Page
This service from the US Patent and Trademark Office allows you to search for both registered and pending trademarks online.
USPTO Independent Inventor Resources
The US Patent and Trademark Office's site for independent inventors - meant to answer individuals' questions about patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
Web Revenge II: Slander and Libel
Tripod columnist and lawyer Dick Wilde offers advice on how to avoid publishing libelous material.
Web Review: Legal
Articles on legal issues from Web Review magazine.
ARTICLES
A Hacker Crackdown?
Creators of controversial software infringement (Napster, Freenet, etc.) wonder if they'll be held legally liable for how others use their work; other programmers find themselves shying away from projects they might get sued for. (8/7/2000 at Salon.com)
Aliases Subject of Internet Libel Case
In a federal trial, jurors fined Dr. Jonathan R. Oppenheimer $675,000 for anonymously making libelous statements about another doctor; it may be the first time such a large libel award has been given based on an anonymous Internet message. (12/15/2000 at The New York Times)
All Charges Dismissed by Judge in Columbia Sex Torture Case
Oliver Jovanovic, arrested in 1996 for allegedly raping a woman with whom he had exchanged email about sadomasochism, has had charges against him dismissed after his conviction in his first trial was overturned. (11/2/2001 at The New York Times)
Amazon, B&N's Mutual Hissy Fit
Amazon sues Barnes and Noble over 1-Click shopping (Express Lane, on B & N's site). (10/22/1999 at Wired News)
Anonymous Surfer Sues Yahoo Over Privacy
Aquacool_2000, an "anonymous" poster on Yahoo message boards, is suing the portal for revealing his identity to AnswerThink, a company that subpoenaed Yahoo for the information, without notifying him of the subpoena. (5/12/2000 at 15 Seconds)
AOL Members File Suit, Media File Errors
In general, the media failed to accurately describe the class of AOL users who are part of the lawsuit regarding the service's pop-up ads, and the pop-up ads themselves. (6/29/2000 at The Industry Standard)
AOL, MCI Drafting Net Tax Compromise
Corporate members of the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce are working on a compromise proposal that would extend the ban on Internet sales taxes for 5 years. (1/28/2000 at USA Today)
Attorney Dan Ravicher on Open Source Legal Issues
In a Slashdot interview, attorney Dan Ravicher answers user-submitted questions related to Open Source and Free Software licensing issues. (6/5/2001 at Slashdot.org)
Behind the Curtain
Technology has allowed businesses and government to gather a lot of information about citizens; it should be used to give citizens and consumers more information on how corporate and public institutions work, and why they fail to deliver on promises. (9/4/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Bezos Calls for Patent Reform
In a public letter at Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos has proposed changes to the U.S. patent system to decrease the negative effects of Internet patents. (3/10/2000 at ZDNet)
The Big Boys (Still) Don't Get It: It's About Databases, Stupid
In not recognizing that the future of content consumption will be based on databases and user choice, rather than "product," the music industry is making a mistake. (1/30/2000 at @NY)
California Net Tax Bill Vetoed
California Gov. Gray Davis has vetoed a bill that would have required retailers with stores in California to collect sales tax for online purchases. (9/25/2000 at Wired News)
Can Hyperlinks be Outlawed?
The MPAA is trying to prevent hacker magazine 2600 from linking to copies of DeCSS, a DVD-decrypting program; but a recent court case that legitimized "deep linking" may support 2600's case. (4/6/2000 at Salon.com)
Case Illustrates Entertainment Industry's Copyright Power
iCraveTV's plan to build technology that determines what country Internet citizens are web-surfing from, and the "anti-circumvention" aspect of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998, are increasing old-media control over the new-media Internet. (3/13/2000 at The New York Times)
Computer Crime Outrunning Law Enforcement
Speaking at an International Law Enforcement Academy, Louis Freeh warned (again) about the dangers the Internet poses for law enforcement. (11/8/1999 at ZDNet)
Congress Wants Privacy Commission
Two congressmen recently introduced a bill calling for the formation of a federal privacy commission that would examine the state of privacy laws and report to Congress within 18 months. (3/15/2000 at Wired News)
Consumer Group, Web Site Spar Over Link
The Better Business Bureau has asked Bizmove.com, an Israeli company's site, to remove a link to the BBB; legal experts don't think the Bureau can legally force removal of the link. (3/26/2001 at USA Today)
Contending with COPPA Confusion
The FTC is trying to dispel confusion surrounding COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which forbids sites from collecting personal information about children under 13 without parental consent. (8/23/2000 at Wired News)
Contracts 101: What Every Web Designer Must Know
A basic introduction to contract law. (9/1/2000 at Web Review)
Corporatists Fire Back at Net Freedom
With the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, corporations convinced Congress to pass a bill that is resulting in greatly decreased freedom and information exchange on the Internet. (3/8/2000 at The Freedom Forum Online)
Court Ruling Denies Copyright Protection For Images On the Net
Court rules that the fair use doctrine allows a "visual search engine" to copy images from other web sites and present them as search results. (12/21/1999 at 7am.com)
CPHack Programmers Throw in the Towel
The writers of CPHack have settled with Mattel, makers of Cyber Patrol, and assigned the company all rights to the software that breaks the software's encryption. Sites that mirrored the software were not included in the settlement. (3/28/2000 at The Industry Standard)
David and Goliath: The Sequel
Links to coverage of the arrest of Jon Johansen, the 16-year-old Norwegian hacker who built DeCSS, a program that breaks through DVD's encryption. (1/26/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Deciphering Encryption Law
An explanation of the Bureau of Export Administration's (BXA's) new (1/12/2000) regulations regarding encryption exports. (1/25/2000 at Upside)
DeCSS Down Under
The recent U.S. court ruling barring 2600 from posting or linking to DeCSS code hasn't stopped Australian website 2600 Australia from making the code available; but a bill expected to pass in the next 6 months will make them change tactics. (9/1/2000 at Salon.com)
Did "Deep-Linking" Really Get a Green Light?
A U.S. District Judge ruled against Ticketmaster in a suit in which the company tried to keep a rival from linking to specific pages on its sight. The ruling wasn't a blanket approval of deep-linking, though. (7/31/2000 at Business Week)
Did Gore Invent the Internet?
Al Gore never said he invented the Internet; but why do people want to forget that he was instrumental in its creation? (10/5/2000 at Salon.com)
Disgruntled AOL 5.0 Users Seek up to $8 Billion in Damages
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against AOL, alleging that its AOL 5.0 software is crash-prone and alters unrelated programs on users' computers. (2/1/2000 at CNN)
Divining the Future of Law and Technology
In the Carl S. Kaplan's last Cyber Law column, he asks various cyberlaw luminaries to predict the major issues that will crop up in 2002. Larry Lessig, Cass Sunstein, and others reply. (1/11/2002 at The New York Times)
DVD Industry's Fallback Plan: Sue!
The DVD industry is suing the hackers who developed the software to bypass DVD copy protection, as well as a number of websites that contained, or linked to, such information. Emmaneul Goldstein of 2600, and the owners of Slashdot.org, are under fire. (12/29/1999 at ZDNet)
DVD Lawsuit Questions Legality of Linking
The DVD Copy Control Association is suing the owners of websites which linked to copies of DeCSS - software that decrypts the security system on DVD videos. Their argument: the defendants knowingly linked to information which was illegally obtained. (1/7/2000 at The New York Times)
E-signatures: Signed, Sealed Delivered
On October 2nd, 2000, the U.S. federal e-signature law - requiring that businesses treat electronic signatures as they would handwritten ones - goes into effect; it just codifies and legitimizes a trend that was already moving forward. (9/28/2000 at ZDNet)
Eavesblogging the Internet Law Program
Links to Dan Gillmor's notes on the Berkman Center second annual Internet Law Program. (7/10/2002 at Slashdot.org)
Election.com Aims to Profit From Politics
Election.com has scored a coup by helping the Arizona Democratic party hold the first Internet-based public election in the U.S. (3/9/2000 at Red Herring)
Epic Battle Over Net Taxation
The Net tax fight has ended for now, with consensus that there should be no taxes on Internet access and no "discriminatory" taxes on telecommuniations services. Next tax board meeting: March 20-21, 2000, Dallas, Texas. (12/21/1999 at Upside)
European E-Commerce: Stymied By 1950s Law?
E-commerce companies from a variety of countries are complaining about a law that allows citizens of European Common Market countries to sue foreign corporations in the citizen's own country. (11/2/1999 at The Industry Standard)
Fed Antitrust Officials Probing eBay
The Department of Justice has launched an informal probe into the online auction space - mainly, regarding eBay's attempts to keep non-partners from pulling auction information from its site. (2/4/2000 at The Industry Standard)
A Federal Privacy Commission? That's Right
A federal privacy commission, similar to independent privacy boards sometimes set up by private companies, may be able to balance citizen privacy with national security and law enforcement concerns. (10/18/2001 at Business Week)
Five Questions with Pamela Samuelson
Pamela Samuelson, head of Berkeley's Center for Law & Technology, talks about copyright, Napster, Freenet, the DMCA, and business method patents. (4/20/2001 at Business 2.0)
From Smoke-Filled Rooms to Silicon Valley
The Internet brain drain hits Washington, DC - politicians and political advisers are moving from being in government to working with government-related Internet firms. (1/28/2000 at The Industry Standard)
FTC and JD Holding Hearings on IP
Discussion of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Justice Department's upcoming hearings on intellectual property, and balancing creators' rights vs. antitrust concerns. (2/12/2002 at Slashdot.org)
FTC Panel Belabors Access, Security Issues
The 40-member Advisory Committee on Online Access and Security, an FTC-appointed committee, made little progress in its first meeting beyond creating subcommittees to investigate issues of privacy and user security online. (2/4/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Future State
In his book "The Rise of the Virtual State," Richard Rosecrance suggests that the world's nations are dividing into two equally important camps: "head" states focusing on planning and design, and "body" states focusing on production and manufacturing. (1/17/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Gathering to Address Gap in Technology Access
The Department of Commerce holds a meeting on the Digital Divide; privacy advocates blast the administration's new encryption policy; NSI returns Internic to the public domain; and the WTO does not make Internet tax ban permanent. (12/7/1999 at The New York Times)
Gilmore Seeks to Exempt Online Sales From Taxes
Governor Gilmore of Virginia, head of a national commission examining tax policy for the Internet, suggests that online purchases should remain tax-free; state and local officials in the less-wired states object. (11/10/1999 at The Washington Post)
Giving Spam the Network Boot
Bulk e-mailer MonsterHut convinced a New York judge to place a restraining order on its ISP, PaeTec Communications, which resells services for Verio, from terminating its Internet access; it says it is abiding by its "pink contract" with PaeTec. (4/19/2001 at News.com)
GOP Fest: 'Dilbertville' Is All the Rage
Internet Alley at the Republican convention was crowded, haphazardly put together, and very popular. (8/3/2000 at ZDNet Developer)
Government Web Sites New Territory for Advertisers
The governments of Honolulu and Salt Lake City are accepting advertisements on their websites; critics cite three main concerns with this trend: privacy for site visitors, implied endorsement of the advertisers, and visual blight. (3/2/2001 at Excite News)
Govs to Congress: Don't Ban Net Taxes
A majority of governors seem to oppose a permanent ban on Internet taxes. (2/29/2000 at USA Today)
Hasbro Loses Latest Round Over Clue.Com Domain
A federal court in Boston ruled that Hasbro's ownership of the "Clue" trademark in relation to its board game does not translate automatically into the right to the domain name clue.com. (9/8/1999 at InternetNews.com)
House Approves Nationwide Standard for Electronic Signatures
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation legitimizing electronic signatures and codifying rules regarding electronic records. (11/10/1999 at deseretnews.com)
Hummer Winblad Could Answer for Napster's Sins
Legal experts say that Hummer Winblad, the VC firm that is Napster's major investor and has two seats on the startup's board, could be sued for facilitating Napster's copyright infringements. (8/4/2000 at Upside)
ICANN Carves Out a Compromise
At a Los Angeles meeting, ICANN, NSI, the U.S. Commerce Department, and registrars came to further agreements on NSI's eventual loss of the domain name registry, funding of ICANN, and several other issues. (11/8/1999 at The Industry Standard)
IMC's Arresting Coverage
The Philadelphia Independent Media Center, a liberal news cooperative/organization covering the 2000 Republican convention. is providing more hard-hitting political coverage than the mainstream outlets inside the convention center. (8/2/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Intellectual Property Laws in Flux
A panel of law professors at CFP 2000 outlined recent laws and legal cases that are helping corporations by restricting individuals' ability to use and copy information. (4/6/2000 at ZDNet)
Internet Tax Panel Eyes Collection by Outsiders
A plan for a third party (rather than the government) to collect and distribute tax revenue on online sales in the U.S. has been proposed, similar to a proposal in Europe. (11/17/1999 at Dallas Morning News)
Internet Threatening U.S. Postal Service?
A General Accounting Office (GAO) report predicts that first-class mail use will begin declining in 2003, due to increased use of the Internet for communication. (10/20/1999 at ZDNet)
IRS Banner Ad Ruling Calms Net Firms
The IRS says it won't require website owners to report barter transactions in which goods and services worth less than $1 are traded - meaning banner ad trades don't have to be reported. (1/6/2000 at USA Today)
Judge Allows Delivery of Subpoenas by E-mail
A U.S. federal judge has ruled that lawyers in the Cyber Patrol case, in which two non-US hackers reverse-engineered the filtering software, can deliver subpoenas via email. (3/24/2000 at Mercury Center)
Judge Explains MP3.com Ruling
The judge who ruled that MP3.com violates records companies' copyright by letting users play stored music from MP3.com's servers explains his decision. (5/4/2000 at Wired News)
Junked PCs Offer Data for Taking
A number of government agencies sell their old computers at auctions; buyers claim the computers often still contain sensitive information that should have been removed. (9/25/2002 at Wired News)
Kids' Sites Cite COPPA Woes
Rather than get verifiable parental consent when providing interactive features to children, as required by COPPA, many child-oriented sites are either removing interactive features or violating the law. (9/14/2000 at Wired News)
Law Schools Can't Meet the Demand for Courses on Internet Issues
Law schools, recognizing that current law courses do not deal enough with the Internet and high technology, are offering "Cyberlaw" classes to eager students. (9/25/2000 at The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Lawrence Lessig Answers Your Questions
Stanford law professor/cyberlaw expert Lawrence Lessig answers questions from Slashdot readers on copyright law, open-source software theories, political activism, and more. (12/21/2001 at Slashdot.org)
Legal Issues for Extranets and E-Commerce
If your company builds or participates in an extranet - a network connecting it to business partners and customers - here are the things you should consider putting in an extranet contract. (9/22/2000 at Web Review)
Legality of 'Deep Linking' Remains Deeply Complicated
Some pundits are calling statements by Judge Hupp in the Ticketmaster vs. Tickets.com case an indication that "deep linking" is perfectly legal; closer examination of his remarks suggests the issues are far from clear. (4/7/2000 at The New York Times)
Leonardo da Cyber Controversy
French company Transasia Corporation is suing Association Leonardo for trademark infringement because that arts and science nonprofit's pages show up in searches for "Leonardo" on search engines. (12/23/1999 at Wired News)
Lessig Slams Bovine Culture of Complacency
A description of Lawrence Lessig's speech at WEB2001, in which he outlined the divide between those who wish for control over content and those seeking to keep content and technology free. (9/6/2001 at Web Review)
Letters Ask Election Commission to Leave the Internet Alone
When it asked for comments on potential regulation of the use of the Internet for campaigning, and candidates' fans' sites, the FEC received more than 1,200 email messages, over 99% of which said: "Hands off." (1/13/2000 at The New York Times)
Link Ban 'Threatens Free Speech'
A federal judge ordered hacker magazine to remove links to sites that distribute DeCSS, but legal experts say the order is a "gross prior restraint of speech." (5/4/2000 at Wired News)
Linking Down the Wrong Path
Several court cases involving hyperlinks, and with issues that touch on copyright, trademark, and trade secrets, are discussed. (1/18/2000 at Upside)
Lobbying Machine Revives Issue of Internet Taxes
The E-Fairness Coalition, National Retail Federation, and other groups managed to keep the U.S. Senate from enacting an extended moratorium on Internet taxes. (6/29/2000 at MSNBC)
Looking at Cyberlaw
An interview with prominent Internet law experts from Harvard, Stanford, and NYU covering privacy, intellectual property, and governments' jurisdiction over cyberspace. (7/10/2001 at TechWeb)
Man Charged Over Hate Web Site in Unprecedented Federal Case
The federal government has charged Ryan Wilson and ALPHA HQ with civil rights violations for creating a website containing death threats against a government official, Bonnie Jouhari. (1/18/2000 at The Nando Times)
McCain Reaps Rewards of Internet Fund-Raising
Presidential contenders are raking in millions of dollars through online donations. (2/3/2000 at Excite News)
Meet the Kid Behind the DVD Hack
An interview with Jon Johansen, the Norwegian teen arrested for writing DeCSS, a program to get around DVDs' playback protection. (1/31/2000 at CNN)
Message Board Misconduct and the Law
Advice on how a company can use the law to stop anonymous posters from disparaging it on online message boards. (3/1/2001 at GigaLaw.com)
Microsoft Shareholders Stand Behind Gates
At its November 1999 shareholders meeting, Microsoft shareholders concentrated more on the company's record profits than its trial woes. (11/10/1999 at ABCNEWS.com)
Microsoft's Passport Service: No Marylanders Allowed?
Due to conflicts between Maryland's version of UCITA and the terms of use for Microsoft's Passport service, it looks like Marylanders are barred from using the service. (4/26/2001 at NewsForge)
Morgan Stanley Battles Father, Son Over Domain Name Rights
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter is suing a father and son for registering and squatting on msdwonline.com; the father and son claim to be innocent victims of corporate thugs. (10/21/1999 at Mercury Center)
Nader Wants Internet Control
Ralph Nader advocates the creation of a World Consumer Protection Organization, backed by governments, to safeguard consumers online; Wired's reporters don't like the idea. (1/15/2001 at Wired News)
Napster May Not Matter Anymore
Pundits say that Napster may become irrelevant, either by losing its outsider cachet through partnering with record companies or charging for downloads; or by being overtaken by better open-source alternatives. (5/15/2000 at Wired News)
Net Election: Clues in the Wordgate Scandal
Minnesota prosecutors are investigating an alleged incident in which Senator Rod Grams' campaign sent hundreds of forged email messages to wreck a rival candidate's campaign; phone records and MS Word documents pointed to Grams' campaign manager. (9/13/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Net Election: Just the Facts, Please
According to a recent Pew telephone, U.S. citizens don't use the Internet to get political information because websites don't offer deep, database-driven information. (9/1/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Net Election: The E-Buttal Battle Continues
A reporter tests out Vice President Gore's Instant MessageNet, a service on which 6 Gore staffers communicated with thousands of Gore supporters online during the debates. (10/9/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Net Gambling Ban Progresses
A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee, and a Senate committee, have given support to bills banning online gambling. (11/3/1999 at USA Today)
Net Patent Fights May Surprise
An exploration of the debate over business process patents, focusing on the recent Priceline vs. Microsoft and Amazon vs. Barnes and Noble suits. The author concludes that today's patent rules help innovation more than they hurt. (12/10/1999 at Upside)
Net Retailers Face A Taxing Question
Due to inconsistent tax laws, online-only merchants tend to collect sales taxes only in states where they have a "nexus"; brick-and-mortar merchants collect sales taxes from residents of all states in which they have stores, unless they form subsidiaries. (12/6/1999 at The Industry Standard)
Nevada Passes Net Gambling Bill
Though Internet gambling is against federal law, Nevada legislators have approved a bill to legalize and regulate online gambling. (6/5/2001 at Wired News)
On the Net, in the Dark
Especially on stock market-oriented discussion boards, corporations are using subpoenas to get websites to reveal the identities of "anonymous" users. (11/8/1999 at Cal Law)
Online Election News Not as Useful as Established Media's, Poll Says
A recent survey conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University indicates that the Internet is not having a huge impact on Americans' views of political campaigns. (8/11/2000 at The Nando Times - Techserver)
Online Polls in GOP Hands?
The Republican Party is making good use of Internet technology, with an email list of a million Republicans who can be dispatched to flood online discussion forums or pass political email messages to their friends. (11/2/2000 at Wired News)
Outsourcing: Who Owns What?
An overview of the intellectual property issues that should be covered in a web design contract - dealing with copyright of various site elements, and to a lesser degree trademark. (11/22/1999 at designshops.com)
Panel's Long Division Adds to Net Taxes' Delay
The federal tax commission put together by Congress to determine how to deal with taxation of Internet purchases is consistently failing to reach consensus on anything. (3/20/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Patent's Net Result: Nothing?
DoubleClick has been awarded a patent on the delivery of banner ads; but the patent's enforceability is in question. (9/13/1999 at Wired News)
Patently Absurd?
In winning patents for 1-Click ordering and affiliate programs, Amazon.com has angered much of the Internet; but a look at the history of the patent system shows that business patents, and uproars about patents, have been around for over 100 years. (3/3/2000 at Salon.com)
The Paul Revere of the Web
A profile of Lawrence Lessig, and a look at his suggested resolution to the Microsoft antitrust case. (2/27/2000 at Business Week)
PC Giants Sued Over Patents
Three major PC manufacturers (Compaq, Dell, and Gateway) are being sued by Multi-Tech Systems, which says that its patents cover the simultaneous transfer of voice, data, and video over communications lines. (2/8/2000 at ZDNet)
Playboy Pioneers Internet Law
Playboy magazine has helped shape Internet law, by participating in a series of lawsuits dealing with trademark infringement and dilution online. (12/14/1999 at Upside)
Poll: Untaxed Net Is Unfair
A recent poll of 1,000 Americans indicated 72 percent believe it's unfair to tax local businesses, but not Internet businesses; an earlier poll of 402 Iowans indicated more than 50 percent don't want a sales tax on Internet purchases. (12/13/1999 at Wired News)
Porn Panel Nears Consensus On Recommendations
The COPA (Child Online Protection Act) Commission is preparing an advisory report for Congress, due on October 21, that will make recommendations on protecting children from "harmful" material online. (10/4/2000 at NewsBytes)
Porn Ruling Protects German ISPs
A German court has overturned a previous ruling that the head of Compuserve in Germany can be held accountable for the pornography disseminated by Compuserve users. (11/19/1999 at The Industry Standard)
Post Office Is Full of Ideas to Survive an E-Future
The U.S. Post Office is working on a number of ideas for generating income online, including electronic payments, online mailing, electronic postmarks, certified e-mail messages, online postage, and shipping services. (12/18/2000 at The New York Times)
Predicting the Legal Internet Issues for 2000
Predictions of the legal issues which will predominate in 2000: media consolidation, ICANN, privacy, censorship, encryption, and business method patents. (12/31/1999 at The New York Times)
Privacy Fuels Gov't Efforts
State legislators, congressmembers, and the Federal Trade Commission are all examining the issue of citizen privacy on the Internet; government regulation may happen this year. (3/9/2000 at CNNfn)
Professor Finds Her Legacy in Internet Law
A profile of law school professor Pamela Samuelson, who is known for helping to fund technology-oriented legal initiatives and clinics in the public interest. (3/2/2001 at The New York Times)
Protesters Act Locally, Organize Globally
Activists at this year's political protests have used the Internet to spread news, organize events, and raise funds. (8/15/2000 at ZDNet)
Putting Citizens Online, Not in Line
A McKinsey study touts the advantages of placing government services online - lower costs, faster processing of forms - and discusses the promise of government/commercial partnerships in providing such services. (4/25/2001 at News.com)
Reform Voting Evokes E-Votes
The Reform Party is allowing its members to vote in its presidential nomination process over the Web; this is the U.S.'s second major online vote, after the Arizona Democratic primary. (8/3/2000 at Wired News)
Rep. Kasich Hopes For Taxation Rebellion
Legislation for permanently banning taxes on Internet purchases, and reducing telecommunicatons fees, is being proposed by Rep. John Kasich; he hopes this is the first move in abolishing all sales taxes. (11/10/1999 at CNNfn)
Report: Needy Need Net Access
The National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council is advising the U.S. Congress to collect a flat tax on online sales and institute a voucher program to get needy families online. (10/4/2000 at USA Today)
Report: Net Sales Tax Is a Job Killer
A Pacific Research Institute study claims that 367,000 California workers will lose their jobs by 2004 if Governor Gray Davis signs an Internet sales tax bill. (9/15/2000 at ZDNet)
Rights Advocate Starts Stanford Tech Law Center
Lawrence Lessig, formerly of Harvard Law School, will direct Stanford Law School's new Center for Internet and Society. (1/13/2001 at SF Gate)
A Search Site for Search Sites Is Accused of Trespassing
Comparison-shopping Net business mySimon Inc. is suing Priceman, a site that comparison-shops by searching other comparison-shoppers, for copyright infringement and unfair competition. (9/24/1999 at The New York Times)
Senior House Member Pans Euro-Net Tax Plan
U.S. Representative Phil Crane of Illinois says Congress should examine and disapprove of the European Commission's proposal to tax goods sold online to European customers by etailers, wherever the etailer may be based. (9/26/2000 at NewsBytes)
Sex, Gambling Online Show U.S. Laws' Limits
The U.S. government is struggling to create, and enforce, laws limiting the spread of traditionally offline industries - including gambling and pornography - to the Web. (12/6/1999 at Miami Herald)
Simplified Online Tax System Spawns Complex Debate
After its San Francisco meeting, the U.S. Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce still couldn't create a consensus on whether taxes should be collected on Internet sales, and if so, how. (12/15/1999 at Mercury Center)
Snoop Bill Heads to Final Vote
The House of Representative's Patriot Act and the Senate's USA act both purport to give the government the tools to monitor and stop terrorists and Net criminals; but the Patriot Act provides some limits on government authority. (10/10/2001 at Wired News)
States Jump Into Privacy Battle
A number of state legislatures are passing laws about privacy and technology, many of them more far-reaching than privacy bills being examined by the U.S. Congress. (9/20/2000 at The Washington Post)
States to Consider Flurry of Internet Bills
Experts expect state governments to pass a flurry of Internet-related bills - some good, some bad - in the coming year. And lobbyists for the industry will be there to try to guide them. (1/4/2000 at The New York Times)
Stop Signs on the Web
Due to pressure from major corporations, and their own national agendas, governments are working at reining in the free-wheeling Internet, implementing laws, rules, and technology that diminish Internet users' freedom. (1/11/2001 at The Economist)
Study: Most U.S. Net Crime at Auction Sites
According to a study from eMarketer.com, 87% of online fraud last year took place at auction websites; the average victim was between 20 and 40, and lost $600. (1/10/2001 at The Industry Standard)
Survey Finds State, Federal Government Web Sites Lacking
A Brown University survey indicates that federal and state governments make poor use of their websites; 78% of the 1,800 sites checked offer no "online services," 93% had no privacy policy, and 61% of state sites have no database offerings. (9/15/2000 at The Nando Times - Techserver)
Technology Cases Raise Issues of Competence
A legislative task force in Maryland is investigating whether or not to create a special court that would deal just with high-technology business cases; several states already have business-only courts. (9/11/2000 at The New York Times)
Tesh Suit Sings Sad Song About Vignette's StoryServer
Musician John Tesh is suing Vignette for $209,250 for misrepresenting the capabilities of its content-management system, Vignette StoryServer. (9/22/2000 at Inside.com)
The Internet's Foolish Lawsuits
The trademark lawsuits involving etoy.com vs. eToys, and Transasia vs. MIT's Leonardo magazine; and patent lawsuits of Amazon vs. Barnes and Noble, and Priceline vs. Expedia; are the coming of the "big-corp-crush-small-guy" business ethic to the Internet. (12/23/1999 at Feed)
The Threat of Digital Theft
An excerpt from Janet Reno's report reporting on intellectual property theft, and the steps being taken to counter it. (12/25/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Ticketmaster: Think Before You Link
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch CEO Charles Conn publishes a manifesto against "deep linking"; and eBay has its own deep-linking problems. (10/15/1999 at The Industry Standard)
Tough Times for Data Robots
A court has ordred Verio inc. to stop using robots to extract data from Register.com's Whois database, under the theory that the robots use Register.com's computer resources, thus causing the company harm. (1/12/2001 at The New York Times)
U.S. Lawyers Want Net-Rules Body
An American Bar Association (ABA) report - not (yet) adopted by the organization - suggests that a multinational commission be created to set rules and resolve disputes regarding the Internet. (7/10/2000 at Wired News)
U.S. Seizes Bank Business of Web Credit Card Issuer
The U.S. has taken over the banking business of Internet-based NextCard, saying it was endangering federally-insured deposits by not making sound lending decisions. (2/12/2002 at The New York Times)
US Implements Job-Safety Rule Opposed by Business
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has put in place a safety standard, aimed at musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) like carpal tunnel syndrome, that it says will prevent almost half a million injuries per year. (11/14/2000 at Yahoo News)
User Agreements and a 'Timeless Issue'
"A federal judge has ruled that Internet users who downloaded free software from a Web site were not bound by the terms of a software licensing agreement because they never consented to it." (7/13/2001 at The New York Times)
Voters Remain Cool to Campaign Web Sites
Political websites apparently don't excite the general public about elections; but they've been useful to political junkies and for fund-raising. (8/3/2000 at Forbes)
Voters Tune to Net for Presidential Debates
Unscientific online polls asking who won the presidential debates had much different results than the scientific offline polls; at least one site offered real-time polling during the debate, instantly gauging reactions to the candidates' words. (10/4/2000 at News.com)
Washington & the Web
The combination of deep industry pockets and legislator ignorance has paved the way for numerous government decisions favorable to high-tech corporations. (9/29/1999 at Fortune)
Web Becomes Player In Presidential Race
The campaign websites of U.S. presidential hopefuls have been somewhat successful in garnering attention and donations; but they have not (yet) changed the political landscape. (2/7/2000 at The Salt Lake Tribune)
Web Site to Pay $37.5 M for Billing Scam
Credit card customers who were billed for visiting pornographic websites that they never actually visited will be reimbursed a total of $37.5 million, following a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission. (9/7/2000 at USA Today)
What's in a Name?
There are some basic steps that search engines, domain name registrars, and others can take to fight domain name and trademark hijacking on the Net. (10/8/1999 at The Industry Standard)
When Bids Go Bad, the FBI Listens
The Internet Fraud Complaint Center, a clearinghouse at the FBI, receives about 1000 fraud complaints about online auctions per month. (8/29/2000 at ZDNet Developer)
WTO Agreed on Short-Term Net Tax Ban, U.S. Official Says
The World Trade Organization agreed to extend the current tax moratorium on Internet sales, but decided not to make it permanent. (12/2/1999 at News.com)
The Year in Internet Law
Legal experts weigh in on the most significant cyberlaw events in 2001; privacy, copyright, and national jurisdiction issues top the list. (12/28/2001 at The New York Times)
The Year in Technology Law
A group of Internet legal experts give their opinions on what the most important cyberdevelopments of 2000 were. (12/22/2000 at The New York Times)
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