Research
15 May 2013
Social Media Privacy - A Dozen Myths and Facts by Lothar Determann Stanford Technology Law Review
Social networks and media are one of the latest frontiers for lawyers, lawmakers, politicians, entrepreneurs and academics. No one seems to claim that social media is the final frontier or even a particularly revolutionary frontier. After all, media and social networks have been around for thousands of years in one form or another. But, most are genuinely fascinated with the new opportunities, risks, and questions presented by the recent rapid rise of novel technology platforms that allow people all over the world to connect and communicate in new ways.
05 May 2013
Privacy in Cyberworld: Why Lock the Gate After the Horse Has Bolted? by Lisa Hannah Collingwood European Journal of Law and Technology
Abstract: In this paper, the author sets out to critique the way in which the principles of off-line privacy protection apply in an on-line environment. The UK approach will be focused upon, the objective being to consider what (non-celebrity) on-line claimants might expect in bringing a privacy violation claim through the domestic courts. The essential characteristics of communicating on-line will be examined so as to explore the nature of an action in misuse of private information and the potential hurdles that require to be overcome before a claim in privacy violation can be remedied at common law.
30 April 2013
The Three Strikes And You Are Out Challenge by Felipe Romero Moreno European Journal of Law and Technology
Abstract: The UK Digital Economy Act 2010 (DEA), which comprises graduated response measures intended to prevent virtual intellectual property (IP) contravention has generated heated debate. While some research has started to investigate the provisions for dealing with online copyright infringement, little attention has been paid to the fact that technology is fast exceeding the confines of this legislation. Drawing on, inter alia, the provisions of the DEA, a number of online copyright infringement cases and some European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) jurisprudence, this paper evaluates the suitability of the graduated response approach to copyright enforcement where internet subscribers alleged to be unlawfully file-sharing will be disconnected from the internet following increasingly strong warnings.
18 April 2013
Three songs and you are disconnected from cyberspace??? Not in Germany where the industry may 'turn piracy into profit' by Sandra Schmitz & Thorsten Ries European Journal of Law and Technology
Abstract: Musical and cinematographic works are shared on a large scale via the Internet, often disrespecting copyrights. State initiatives seek to curtail online copyright infringements in different ways; the latest being graduated response schemes, where the alleged infringer is initially warned twice before he is sanctioned. In this context questions arise inter alia as regards the identification of the actual infringer, information rights of the rightsholder, reliability of tracking methods or judicial review of the allegations.
15 April 2013
Putting the "war" in cyberwar: Metaphor, analogy, and cybersecurity discourse in the United States by Sean Lawson First Monday
Abstract: Public policy discourse about cyber security in the United States is dominated by a metaphor of war and analogies to the Cold War. This essay critically evaluates the contradictory tendency within U.S. cyber war discourse to see cyber conflict as simultaneously revolutionary and unprecedented, but also amenable to the tenets of Cold War nuclear deterrence.
07 April 2013
Role of ICANN in Internet Domain Name Dispute Resolution by S.V. Damodar Reddy [IUP Law Review] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: ICANN is an apex authority responsible for the administration of domain names, IP address numbers and protocol parameters. The domain name is much like an entry in a phone book. Computers communicate by using numbers called IP addresses to contact each other, much like we use a phone number to dial a specific person's phone.
02 April 2013
Behavioral Advertising: The Cryptic Hunter and Gatherer of the Internet by Joanna Penn Federal Communications Law Journal
In an era where three out of every four Americans have Internet access, the term "surfing" has transformed from riding waves into running the risk of having private information gathered, stored, and disseminated -- all without the user's knowledge or permission. This newfound online practice, known as "behavioral advertising," is a veritable goldmine for those companies that know the game. But will the FTC or Congress soon make new rules concerning how to play?
31 March 2013
OECD: Protecting and empowering consumers in the purchase of digital content products OECD
The spread of broadband, mobile devices and online and mobile payments usage are driving the expansion in digital content products. These can be downloaded, streamed or accessed through Internet Protocol TV on a range of channels including online retail platforms and social media.
27 March 2013
Law and the Open Internet by Adam Candeub and Daniel McCartney Federal Communications Law Journal
The FCC has issued a new set of Internet access regulations and policies (namely Preserving the Open Internet Broadband Industry Practices, Report and Order, FCC 10-201, rel. Dec. 23, 2010), which would prohibit broadband service providers like AT&T or Comcast from discriminating against unaffiliated content providers. The FCC's proceedings, and the network neutrality debate, concentrate on two economic questions: (1) whether to broadband service providers can or will steer traffic to affiliated content limiting consumer access, and (2) how to preserve the Internet's capacity for creativity and innovation.
18 March 2013
Copyright Fraud in the Internet Age: Copyright Management Information for Non-Digital Works Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by Russell W. Jacobs Stanford Technology Law Review
Abstract: With the advent of the digital age, authors of creative works enjoy the benefits of quickly and inexpensively distributing their works to global audiences. These developments have unfortunately led to the negative consequence that pirated, unauthorized, or altered copies reach potential users before the creator of the work releases the authentic version according to his or her terms. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 sought to address some of these concerns by punishing circumventions of technologies controlling access to copyrighted works and by protecting "copyright management information," i.e. the data identifying the author and the terms of use of a copyrighted work.
11 March 2013
Trust Drives Internet Use by Martin Ljunge [Univ. of Copenhagen Dept. of Economics Discussion Paper] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: This paper estimates the effect of trust on internet use by studying the general population as well as second generation immigrants in 29 European countries with ancestry in 87 nations. There is a significant positive effect of trust on internet use.
04 March 2013
Toward Cyber Peace: Managing Cyber Attacks Through Polycentric Governance by Scott Shackelford Social Science Research Network
Abstract: Views range widely about the seriousness of cyber attacks and the likelihood of cyber war. But even framing cyber attacks within the context of a loaded category like war can be an oversimplification that shifts focus away from enhancing cybersecurity against the full range of threats now facing companies, countries, and the international community.
26 February 2013
Patterns of Legalization in the Internet: Do We Need a Constitutional Theory for Internet Law? by Osvaldo SaldÃas [HIIG Discussion Paper] Social Science Research Network
Abstract:The paper acknowledges a growing web of legal norms that regulate governance aspects of the Internet. Some of these norms are legally binding; others are closer to what some scholars call soft law. In order to take stock of these developments, I propose an explorative typology that can bring some systematic order into the plurality of Internet norms.
21 February 2013
Third-Party Tracking Cookies and Data Privacy by Ian D. Mitchell [Northern Kentucky University - Salmon P. Chase College of Law] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: Public discourse these days is replete with concerns about data security and information privacy. One of the major themes of these conversations is the concept of waiver and what rights to privacy are actually waived when engaging with parties over the internet. A significant mode of this theme involves the use of "cookies" which are surreptitiously installed on users' computer hard drives during common internet transactions.
11 February 2013
A Behavioral Perspective on Technology Evolution and Domain Name Regulation by Todd Davies [Pacific McGeorge Global Business & Development Law Journal] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: This paper argues that private property and rights assignment, especially as applied to communication infrastructure and information, should be informed by advances in both technology and our understanding of psychology.
04 February 2013
Virtual or Reality: Prosecutorial Practices in Cyber Child Pornography Ring Cases by Michal Gilad University of Richmond Journal of Law and Technology
Introduction: [1] With the rising use of the Internet over the past decade, the boundaries between our physical space and cyberspace are quickly fading. The Internet has become an integral and inseparable part of modern being, and its dominance in our lives is undeniable. Actions taken online are no longer a mere virtual fantasy, but directly relate to our "offline" everyday living. Modern criminal trends also demonstrate the strong link between the virtual and physical worlds.
28 January 2013
Is the U.S. Government's Internet Policy Broken?: A Review of Captive Audience by Susan Crawford: Review by Robert W. Hahn & Hal J. Singer [Georgetown McDonough School of Business Research Paper] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: Professor Susan Crawford has just published an exciting new book on the future of high-speed Internet access in America. To hear Crawford tell it in 270 pages (excluding the copious footnotes), Americans should be worried because most of them will not have access to the fastest lane on the information superhighway. Indeed, only the rich will likely purchase high-speed Internet access because it will be too expensive for the rest of us.
24 January 2013
Law and the Open Internet by Adam Candeub and Daniel McCartney Federal Communications Law Journal
The FCC has issued a new set of Internet access regulations and policies, which would prohibit broadband service providers like AT&T or Comcast from discriminating against unaffiliated content providers.
21 January 2013
Copyright Fraud in the Internet Age: Copyright Management Information for Non-Digital Works Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by Russell W. Jacobs Columbia Science and Technology Law Review
Abstract: With the advent of the digital age, authors of creative works enjoy the benefits of quickly and inexpensively distributing their works to global audiences. These developments have unfortunately led to the negative consequence that pirated, unauthorized, or altered copies reach potential users before the creator of the work releases the authentic version according to his or her terms. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 sought to address some of these concerns by punishing circumventions of technologies controlling access to copyrighted works and by protecting "copyright management information," i.e. the data identifying the author and the terms of use of a copyrighted work.
15 January 2013
Comparative analysis of national cybersecurity strategies - Cybersecurity Policy Making at a Turning Point: Analysing a New Generation of National Cybersecurity Strategies OECD
This report analyses the latest generation of "national cybersecurity strategies" in ten countries and identifies commonalities and differences.
12 January 2013
Smartphone Wars by John Atallah Stanford Technology Law Review
Apple sues Samsung for patent infringement. In response, Samsung files international countersuits on patents of its own. Courts around the world grant preliminary injunctions to each company on a number of their claims, while United States and European Union government agencies investigate allegations of antitrust violations. What's going on here? Let's start with the shiny new weapon that Apple added to its arsenal in June of last year: a patent on the original iPhone, the paperwork for which had been in the works since December of 2007. That patent claims, among other things, the finger-gesture-based set of input methods that has become integral to the functionality of today's smartphones. Enter Samsung, now the world's largest manufacturer of smartphones and owner of numerous patents covering globally standardized technological protocols. Samsung's use of those input methods, as well as overlaps in product design, in its line of Android-based devices has put it squarely in Apple's crosshairs.
05 January 2013
Privacy Problems in the Online World by Virgilio A.F. Almeida, Federal University of Minas Gerais Internet Computing Magazine
Modern technology's benefits have accelerated our migration to social networking and other online activities. However, the confluence of the online world and life offline is imperfect, immature, and incomplete. People's habits, customs, and relationships are going through profound changes that will have as-yet-unknown effects on them and society as a whole.
02 January 2013
Regulating the Internet infrastructure: A comparative appraisal of the legitimacy of ICANN, ITU, and the WSIS by Ingo Take Wiley
Abstract: How to generate legitimate forms of governance beyond the nation state is often considered a central question in contemporary world politics. To proceed in theory-building, scholars need to systematically assign the theory-driven assumptions on legitimate forms of governance beyond the nation state with the various, already observable, forms of global governance.
31 December 2012
China's Proposed Personal Information Protection Act by Graham Greenleaf [Privacy Laws & Business International Newsletter] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: From 2005-7 a group of experts led by Professor Zhou Hanhua, the director of the Institute of Law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, were commissioned by the Peoples Republic of China government to draft a national data protection law to be considered by the Informatics Committee of the State Council. However, by 2008 the draft had still not progressed through any of the various Chinese legislative channels.
26 December 2012
The Relationship Between the ISP Safe Harbors and Liability for Inducement by R. Anthony Reese Stanford Technology Law Review
The extent to which online service providers can be held liable for copyright infringement committed by users of their services is one of the more complicated and contentious copyright issues of our day. Courts have struggled with how to apply common-law doctrines of secondary liability to online activity.
