Research
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.
14 December 2012
Google Versus the Law: Google's Legal Adventures and Their Impact to the Evolution of European Information Law by Tatiana Synodinou Social Science Research Network
Abstract: This paper provides an overview of the major legal questions which emerge from Google' dynamic presence in the Web. It is divided in four parts. The first part deals with the privacy implications which are born by Google's various activities, primarily by its main function as a search engine, but also by more sophisticated tools, such as the Google Street View service.
09 December 2012
Internet regulation: The need for more transparent Internet filtering systems and improved measurement of public opinion on Internet filtering by Nikolaos Koumartzis & Andreas Veglis First Monday
Abstract: All around the world, the phenomenon of Internet regulation is on the rise as more and more countries implement such policies, from Asian authoritarian regimes to Western democracies. At the same time, the great majority of Internet users are not aware that they access a filtered version of World Wide Web due to the "non-transparent" policy of many governments, something that results to a very dangerous precedent for the future of the Internet.
02 December 2012
Patterns of Legalisation in the Internet: Do We Need a Constitutional Theory for Internet Law? by Osvaldo SaldÃas [Humboldt-Universitat Zu Berlin Internet & Society Working 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.
25 November 2012
Emerging Issues in Internet Regulation: The Unstable Role of Wikileaks and Cyber-Vigilantism by Alison Powell [Research Handbook on Internet Governance] Social Science Research Network
Abstract:This paper outlines the emerging issues in internet regulation introduced by distributed organizations and cyber-vigilantism: notably, the contributions of WikiLeaks and Anonymous to the problematics of internet governance through an uneven disruption of the power held by existing institutions including the state, but also the mass media. Drawing on Christopher Kelty's (2004) observation that persuasive arguments can be made both through language and by technology, it examines how existing definitions of governance, which are often focused on rule-making, engage with this broader set of 'arguments-by-technology' and what the consequences of these new arguments might be.
19 November 2012
Empirical Study of Privacy Issues among Social Networking Sites by Joanne Kuzma Journal of International Commercial Law and Technology
Abstract: Social media networks are increasing their types of services and the numbers of users are rapidly growing. However, online consumers have expressed concerns about their personal privacy protection and recent news articles have shown many privacy breaches and unannounced changes to privacy policies.
11 November 2012
Building a Better Internet in Latin America and the Caribbean http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MIC.2011.33
From the beginning, a key element of the Internet's success has been collaboration between its engineers, researchers, network operators, vendors, and service providers.
09 November 2012
It's a Mad, Mad Internet: Globalisation and the Challenges Presented by Internet Censorship by Jessica E. Bauml Federal Communications Law Journal
The advent of the Internet has brought tremendous technological advancements and growth to the world. However, it has also become a source of conflict, particularly when different countries attempt to regulate this very ubiquitous and amorphous medium. The most notable controversy has arisen in China -- home to the world's most advanced system of Internet censorship, which levies harsh penalties on those who violate the country's strict censorship laws.
03 November 2012
Internet traffic exchange: 2 billion users and it's done on a handshake by Rudolf Van der Berg of the OECD's Science, Technology and Industry Directorate OECD
Every day one Exabyte of data is said to travel over the Internet - enough data to fill 300,000 of the world's biggest hard disks or 212 million DVDs. And astonishingly, according to Internet Traffic Exchange: Market Developments and Policy Challenges a new OECD report on Internet traffic exchange, most of the thousands of networks that exchange this traffic do so without a written contract or formal agreement.
21 October 2012
The Right to Be Forgotten? by Conrad Coutinho Columbia Science and Technology Law Review
Have you ever Googled your own name? Statistics say that you probably have. Egotism aside, in a world where potential employers, schools and even romantic partners are likely to Google you, it would be irresponsible not to be aware of what pops up when you search your name. Many experts (and this non-expert) even recommend setting up a Google alert in your name.
14 October 2012
Fixed and Mobile Networks: Substitution, Complementarity and Convergence OECD
This report examines the convergence of fixed and mobile (wireless) networks and services. It considers these developments against a long standing question of whether they are complementary or competitive. The report concludes that they are both. Mobile providers have garnered a very large share of traditional services, such as telephony, over the past decade.
11 October 2012
Don't Be Evil: The Fourth Amendment in the Age of Google, National Security, and Digital Papers and Effects Albany Law Journal
Abstract: This Article offers an overview of current Fourth Amendment law in light of evolving concepts of papers and effects, expectations of privacy online, and the third party and state action doctrines. Scholars have addressed some of these issues individually, but this Article analyzes the legal issues that subsist in the wake of the NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program dilemma and during Congress' current push to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
08 October 2012
Personal Jurisdiction, Internet Commerce and Privacy: The Pervasive Legal Consequences of Modern Geolocation Technologies Albany Law Journal
Abstract: Modern geolocation technologies allow Internet sites to automatically and accurately identify a user's geographic location. This capability -- unavailable just a few years ago -- has begun to revolutionize Internet commerce and communication by enabling content localization, customization, and access regulation on a scale previously thought to be impossible. Yet thus far, the law has reacted inadequately to these technologies, or in some cases, failed to react at all.
01 October 2012
Freedom of Expression on the Internet: Study of Legal Provisions and Practices Related to Freedom of Expression, the Free Flow of Information and Media Pluralism on the Internet in OSCE Participating States by Yaman Akdeniz [Report of the OSCE Represen... Social Science Research Network
Abstract: Based on the limited effectiveness of state laws and lack of harmonization at international level (despite some efforts at regional level) a number of states, including some in the OSCE region, introduced policies to block access to Internet content, websites deemed illegal, and Web 2.0 based social media platforms which are outside their jurisdiction. In short, the new trend in Internet regulation seems to entail blocking access to content if state authorities are not in a position to reach the perpetrators for prosecution or if their request for removal or take down of such content is rejected or ignored by foreign law enforcement authorities or hosting and content providers.
27 September 2012
The French Revolution 2.0: Copyright and the Three Strikes Policy by Eldar Haber Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law
Abstract: Internet file-sharing of copyrighted materials created a struggle between right holders, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and file-sharers. After several different attempts to resolve the struggle, many countries began to debate the possibility of a Three Strikes Policy (3SP), which includes, inter alia, providing for the termination of subscriptions and accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. This policy has thus far been implemented by way of legislation in Taiwan (2009), South Korea (2009), France (2010), the United Kingdom (2010) and New Zealand (2011), and by means of private ordering in Ireland (2010). It is still under consideration elsewhere. The 3SP is portrayed as a panacea for Internet-related infringements.
24 September 2012
A Prehistory of Internet Governance by Malte Ziewitz & Ian Brown [Research Handbook on Governance of the Internet] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: What social, technical, economic and political developments played a role in constituting a field, in which the idea of 'Internet Governance' could thrive? What are the events, stories and ideas that preceded and made possible today's discussions about governance on, of and through the Internet?
16 September 2012
Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth by Nina Czernich, Oliver Falck, Tobias Kretschmer & Ludger Woessmann [Economic Journal] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: We estimate the effect of broadband infrastructure, which enables high-speed internet, on economic growth in the panel of OECD countries in 19962007. Our instrumental variable model derives its non-linear first stage from a logistic diffusion model where pre-existing voice telephony and cable TV networks predict maximum broadband penetration.
13 September 2012
Regulation and Control of Communication: The French Online Copyright Infringement Law (HADOPI) by Nicola Lucchi [Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law / Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property & Competition Law Research Paper] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: In January 2010, after a troubled process, the French law for "creation and Internet", commonly known as Hadopi, was finally adopted in an amended form. The enacted text was the result of corrective action undertaken by the Conseil constitutionnel (France's highest constitutional authority), through Decision No. 2009-580 DC of the 10th of June 2009.
09 September 2012
Seized Sites: The In Rem Forfeiture of Copyright-Infringing Domain Names by Andrew Sellars Social Science Research Network
Abstract: In the summer of 2010, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division of the Department of Homeland Security began "Operation In Our Sites," an enforcement sweep targeted towards websites allegedly dealing in counterfeit goods and copyright-infringing files. The operation targeted the websites by proceeding in rem against their respective domain names. For websites targeted for copyright infringement, ICE Agents used recently-expanded copyright forfeiture remedies passed under the 2008 PRO-IP Act, providing no adversarial hearing prior to the websites being removed, and only a probable cause standard of proof.
27 August 2012
Don't Be Evil: The Fourth Amendment in the Age of Google, National Security, and Digital Papers and Effects by Andrew William Bagley Albany Law Journal
Abstract: This Article offers an overview of current Fourth Amendment law in light of evolving concepts of papers and effects, expectations of privacy online, and the third party and state action doctrines. Scholars have addressed some of these issues individually, but this Article analyzes the legal issues that subsist in the wake of the NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program dilemma and during Congress' current push to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
23 August 2012
Personal Jurisdiction, Internet Commerce and Privacy: The Pervasive Legal Consequences of Modern Geolocation Technologies by Kevin F. King Albany Law Journal
Abstract: Modern geolocation technologies allow Internet sites to automatically and accurately identify a user's geographic location. This capability -- unavailable just a few years ago -- has begun to revolutionize Internet commerce and communication by enabling content localization, customization, and access regulation on a scale previously thought to be impossible. Yet thus far, the law has reacted inadequately to these technologies, or in some cases, failed to react at all.
12 August 2012
Social Media in the Changing Ecology of News Production and Consumption: The Case in Britain by Nic Newman, William H. Dutton & Grant Blank Social Science Research Network
Abstract: This paper looks at how the production and consumption of news is changing in the UK. It draws from survey research of individuals in Britain from 2003-2011, which includes evidence on patterns of news readership among Internet users and non-users, as well as more qualitative case studies of developments in online news organizations, based on interviews and log files of journalistic sites. Survey evidence has shown a step-jump in the use of online news since 2003, as a complement to print news reading, but a leveling off since 2009. However, this relative stability in news consumption masks a change in the growing role of social networks, both as a substitute for search in many cases, but also in their relationship with online newspapers, as the interaction of mainstream news and networked individuals has begun to reshape the ecology of production and consumption.
05 August 2012
Loving the Cyber Bomb? The Dangers of Threat Inflation in Cybersecurity Policy by Jerry Brito & Tate Watkins Social Science Research Network
Abstract: Over the past two years there has been a steady drumbeat of alarmist rhetoric coming out of Washington about potential catastrophic cyber threats. For example, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last year, Chairman Carl Levin said that "cyberweapons and cyberattacks potentially can be devastating, approaching weapons of mass destruction in their effects." Proposed responses include increased federal spending on cybersecurity and the regulation of private network security practices.
30 July 2012
Net Neutrality 101 by Richard French [University of Ottawa Law & Technology Journal] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: Network neutrality is a controversy of American origin, which, given the American foundations of the internet, has spread to a number of other jurisdictions, including Canada. In this article, I attempt to provide an introduction to the issues in a Canadian context for the non-specialist. Network neutrality is a debate about the public interests in freedom of expression, consumer protection, and economic growth and innovation, as they are mediated by the expansion of broadband internet access.
08 July 2012
Why Monitor Violent Websites? A Justification by Raphael Cohen-Almagor & Sharon Haleva-Amir [Beijing Law Journal] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: The authors argue that the international community should continue working together to devise rules for monitoring specific Internet sites, as human lives are at stake. Preemptive measures could prevent the translation of murderous thoughts into murderous actions.
