Broadly speaking, Cyberspace represents a conceptual distinction between activities that occur in the real world and those that occur online.  As a practical matter, both the increasing importance and the expanding utility of the Internet is rendering distinctions between real-space and Cyberspace less perceptible.  Even so, Cyberspace still presents a remarkable number of novel legal questions involving how computer users carry out various social, economic, and political transactions through the interconnection of computing and communications technologies. Cyberspace facilitates our ability to engage in a wide-range of activities, including activities in which we share a great deal of detailed and sometimes personal information about ourselves to strangers. In this course, we will examine two inter-related areas of the law that Cyberspace may be shaping in profound ways. We will consider some of the novel questions facing us concerning an individual’s right of privacy when participating in an apparently public forum like Cyberspace, and we will review the legal setting developed thus far concerning speech rights in Cyberspace.

As an outgrowth of the course’s examination of privacy and speech, we will evaluate the emerging legal framework with respect to the intersection of speech and privacy in areas such as the use of cryptography in electronic communications, the relationship between copyright and free speech, and the emergence of Internet Governance through private-sector management frameworks such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) . Participants in the course will make fairly extensive use of Cyberspace as a basis for class discussion, study, and research.  Many of the class readings will be available on the Internet, and students will participate in an Internet discussion list.   There will be one short presentation and a research paper required on an issue discussed in the course.

Course Requirements

The course grade will be based on the student’s performance on a significant research paper and class participation, including a brief presentation and completion of Peer Evaluation Forms:

1.  Research Paper -- 70%.  The Research Paper must be at least 20 pages.

Topics.  The deadline for selection of paper topics is the third week in the semester.  Students will begin brief presentations by the fifth week of class. Students are encouraged to schedule conferences with me for assistance in selecting a topic. Before the end of the first week of class students should read as an overview on some of the significant and interesting legal issues in Cyberspace today.

Outlines or First Drafts.  On the day of your presentation, an outline or first draft of your paper is due. Shortly thereafter, I will offer comments and suggestions on the paper.

Final Drafts.  Completed papers are due on the date announced in class.

2.  Participation -- 30%.  In-class discussion is essential in this course. To assist the class discussions and help students prepare for their presentations, an electronic discussion list will be set up. On the discussion list, we may share ideas outside of class on any issue related to Cyberlaw and on topics currently being reviewed in the course.

3.  Attendance is required.

4. The course texts include a course packet, which may be purchased from the school, and a text by Lawrence Lessig, "CODE: AND OTHER LAWS OF CYBERSPACE."  Many of the readings in the course packet may be accessed from the online course syllabus using hypertext links.

5. A Statutory Appendix will be included in the course packet.

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Course Syllabus

Course Internet Tools

Cyberlaw Cases - Supreme Court

Frequently Asked Questions about Open Source

"E-mail the Way it Should be, free and secure"

Is your web browser secure? (cipher check from Fortify)

Do not hit the Delete key. Erase it. (from Sami Tolvanen)

What Is The Internet (And What Makes It Work) - December, 1999
By Robert E. Kahn and Vinton G. Cerf
 

The readings for each class meeting:

Week 1:  Defining Cyberspace...

Lessig, Chapter 6 - Cyberspaces.

Lessig, Chapter 12 - Free Speech.

CompuServe, Inc. v. Patterson, 89 F.3d 1257 (6th Cir. 1996).

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

A. Michael Froomkin, The Internet as a Source of Regulatory Arbitrage, in Brian Kahin & Charles Nesson, eds., Borders in Cyberspace:  Information Policy and the Global Information Infrastructure 129 (1997).

James Boyle, Foucault in Cyberspace: Surveillance, Sovereignty, and Hard-Wired Censors (1997)(Conference paper).

Eugene Volokh, Writing a Student Article, 48 J. Legal Educ. 247 (1998).
 

Week 2:  Finding Cyberspace...
 

Zippo Mfg. Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc., 952 F. Supp. 1119 (W.D. Pa. 1997)

Bensusan Restaurant Corp. v. King, 937 F.Supp. 295 (S.D.N.Y. 1996).

United States v. Thomas, 74 F.3d 701 (6th Cir. 1996).

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

Allan R. Stein, The Unexceptional Problem of Jurisdiction in Cyberspace, 32 The International Lawyer 1167 (1998).

Minnesota v. Granite Gate Resorts, Inc., No. C6-97-89 (1997).

David R. Johnson & David Post, Law Without Borders -- The Rise of Law in Cyberspace, 48 Stan. L. Rev. 1367 (1996);

Dan L. Burk, Federalism in Cyberspace, 28 Conn. L. Rev. 1095 (1996).
 

Weeks 3 - 5:  Protections of Privacy in Cyberspace
 

Carefully Review The World Wide Web Security FAQ.

Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 484 (1965).

Minnesota v. Carter,(97-1147) _ U.S. _ (1998).

Smyth v. The Pillsbury Co., 914 F. Supp. 97 (E.D. Pa. 1996).

O'Connor v. Ortega, 480 U.S. 709 (1987).

Lessig, Chapter 11 - Privacy

Henke Wanda v. Comm, _ F.2d _ (D.C. Cir. 1996).

Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service, 36 F.3d 457 (5th Cir. 1994).

Davis v. Gracey, 111 F.3d 1472 (10th Cir. 1997).

Rod Dixon, Windows Nine-to-Five:  Smyth v. Pillsbury and the Scope of an Employee's Right of Privacy in Computer Communications, 2 Va. J.L. & Tech. 4 (1997).

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

Rod Dixon, The Feds Should Act to Ensure Our Privacy Online , ComputerWorld, April 1999.

Deteresa v. American Broadcasting Co., 95-56748 (07-29-97).

Note, Addressing the New Hazards of the High Technology Workplace, 104 Harv. L. Rev. 1898 (1991).

David J. Goldstone, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Cyber Forum:  Public vs. Private in Cyberspace Speech, 69 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1 (1998).

David G. Post, Pooling Intellectual Capital:  Thoughts on Anonymity, Pseudonymity, and Limited Liability in Cyberspace, 1996 U. Chi. Legal. F. 139.
 

Weeks 6 - 7:   The Convergence of Encryption, Privacy, and Free Expression

Should Web page hyperlinks be protected by the First Amendment?

Bernstein v.DOJ,  945 F.Supp. 1279.

Bernstein v. United States, 922 F. Supp. 1426 (N.D. Cal. 1996).

Bernstein v. United States, 974 F. Supp. 1288 (N.D. Cal. 1997).

Karn v. United States Dep't of State, 925 F. Supp. 1 (D.D.C. 1996).

Junger v. Dept. of Commerce, (N.D. Ohio 1998) (on appeal to the Sixth Circuit).

Dowling v. United States, 473 U.S. 207 (1985).

Digital Equipment Corp. v. Altavista Technology, Inc. 960 F. Supp. 456 (D. Mass. 1997).

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

U.S. v. Lamacchia, 871 F. Supp. 535 (D. Mass. 1994).

Rod Dixon, Needed: A Bold Privacy Law (Through the Cracks of Encryption: Personal  Privacy is Slipping Away), National Law Journal, April 19, 1999.
 

Weeks 8 - 9:  Information Privacy and Computer Databases in Cyberspace
 

Louder v. CompuServe Inc., No. BC153274 (Cal. L.A. County Super. Ct. complaint filed July 5, 1996).

Reno v. Condon (_ U.S. _ Jan 12, 2000).

Quad/Graphics, Inc. v. Southern Adirondack Library System, 664 N.Y.S.2d 225 (Sup. Ct. 1997).

Council Directive 95/46/EC of 24 October 1995 on the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data (EU Data Protection Directive), 1995 O.J. (L 281) 31.

Privacy Online: A Report to Congress,  Federal Trade Commission(June 1998).

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

Jerry Kang, Information Privacy in Cyberspace Transactions, 50 Stan. L. Rev. 1193 (1998).

Julie E. Cohen, A Right to Read Anonymously:  A Closer Look at "Copyright Management" in Cyberspace, 28 Conn. L. Rev. 981 (1996).

Carl S. Kaplan, ISPs and Database Sued in Abortion Case: CyberLaw Journal, New York Times (Jan. 22, 1998)

Jane Kaufman Winn, Open Systems, Free Markets, and Regulation of Internet Commerce, 72 Tulane L. Rev. 1177 (1998).
 

Weeks 10- 11:  First Amendment Principles in Cyberspace
 

Reno v. ACLU, 117 S. Ct. 2329 (1997).

Mainstream Loudon v. Board of Trustees of the Loudon County Library (E.D. Va. Apr. 7, 1998).

American Library Association v. Pataki, 969 F. Supp. 160 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).

ACLU v. Miller, 977 F.Supp. 1228 (N.D. Ga. 1997).

Urofsky v. Gilmore, _ F.3d _, No. 98-1481 (4th Cir. Feb. 10, 1999).

Cubby v. CompuServe, Inc., 776 F. Supp. 135 (S.D.N.Y. 1991).

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

Julian Dibbell, A Rape in Cyberspace, first published in The Village Voice, Dec. 23, 1993; Eugene Volokh, Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace from the Listener's Perspective:  Private Speech Restrictions, Libel, State Action, Harassment, and Sex, 1996 U. Chi. Legal F. 377.Zeran v. America On-Line, Inc., 129 F.3d 327 (4th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 66 U.S.L.W. 3605 (June 22, 1998). CompuServe, Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, Inc., 962 F. Supp. 1015 (S.D. Ohio 1997).
 

Week 12:  The Clash of Property and Speech (freedom) in Cyberspace
 

Tasini v. New York Times, 972 F.Supp. 804 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).

U.S. West v. FCC (10TH Cir.)

Tim O'Reilly, The Open-Source Revolution.

Lessig, Chapter 10 - Intellectual Property

Rod Dixon, When Efforts to Conceal May Actually Reveal:: WhetherFirst AmendmentProtection of EncryptionSourceCode and the OPEN SOURCE CODE MOVEMENT Support Re-drawing the Constitutional Line Between the First Amendment and Copyright for Authors of Computer Software, (forthcoming 2000).

RECOMMENDED READING:

National Basketball Association v. Motorola, Inc., 105 F.3d 841 (2d Cir. 1997).

Rod Dixon, Profits in Cyberspace: Should Newspapers and Magazine Publishers Pay Freelance Writers for Digital Content?, 4 Mich. Tel. &Tech. L. Rev. 4 (1998).

J.H. Reichman & Pamela Samuelson, Intellectual Property Rights in Data?, 50 Vand. L. Rev. 51 (1997).
 

Weeks 13 - 14:   Internet Governance and Private Sector Management of Cyberspace
 

Panavision Int'l L.P. v. Toeppen, 945 F.Supp. 1296 (C.D. Cal. 1996).

Lessig, Chapter 2- Four Puzzles from Cyberspace and  Chapter 14 - Sovereignty

Lessig, Chapter 7 - What Things Regulate

Interim Report from the Working Group C - new gTLDs

Management of Internet Names and Addresses: Statement of Policy, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (1998).

USPTO - Policy Statement, Trademark Examination of Domain Names.

U.S. v. Lamacchia, 871 F. Supp. 535 (D. Mass. 1994).

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

Rod Dixon, Needed: A Bold Privacy Law (Through the Cracks of Encryption: Personal Privacy is Slipping Away), National Law Journal, April 19, 1999.

ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg, 86 F.3d 1447 (7th Cir. 1997).

Religious Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communication Services, Inc., 907 F. Supp. 1361 (N.D. Cal. 1995).

John A. Fraser, The Use of Encrypted, Coded and Secret Communications Is an "Ancient Liberty" Protected by the United States Constitution, 2 Va. J.L. & Tech. 2 (1997).

Julie E. Cohen, Some Reflections on Copyright Management Systems and Laws Designed to Protect Them, 12 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 161 (1997).

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Copyright 1999, 2000 Rod Dixon