Intellectual Property Law

The Beat Goes On . . .

Posted on October 19, 2012
Just over five years ago, a group of lawyers and law students decided to start a wiki dedicated to IT law. The goal was to post 20,000 articles within the first five years. It was thought that the wiki would be fairly complete by that milestone. Just a few days after the fifth anniversary of [...

First Outsourcing, Now Desourcing

Posted on September 25, 2012
Starting in the mid-1990s, American companies took advantage of the growth of global telecommunications and computerization to send not only manufacturing but also service jobs overseas. It became known as outsourcing, and has been a bone of contention with politicians ever since...

Pending Elections, Cyberspace Forgotten?

Posted on August 29, 2012
We are in the middle of the campaign season. A time when candidates from both parties (as well as a few independents) try to get the attention of voters and garner their support. Something definitely missing from this race is ANY discussion of those issues that are near and dear to those of us concerned [...

The ?Cyberwar? Bug-a-boo

Posted on March 23, 2012
The Obama Administration, with the support of the military and a long list of defense contractors, has asked Congress for massive increases in funding for cyberwarfare activities. As stated in an article by William J. Lynn III, formerly deputy defense secretary, cyberwar is “just as critical to military operations as land, sea, air, and space...

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Kids, Apps and Privacy

Posted on February 17, 2012
I bought an iPad for my granddaughter when she was 6 months old. Everyone thought I was crazy. She couldn?t talk yet and had trouble sitting up on her own. Yet, she took to that iPad like a duck to water. She already knew how to swipe it to turn it on from playing with [...

What to Look Forward to in 2012

Posted on November 11, 2011
This year seems to have been one of the busiest, if not the busiest yet, in the field of cyber law. Much of this activity did not result in any concrete outcomes (yet), so many of the issues that we were hoping to get resolved in 2011 will be around again next year...

FTC Looking to Change the COPPA Rules

Posted on September 27, 2011
On September 15, 2011, the FTC announced that it is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the Children?s Online Privacy Protection Rule, which govern the collection and use of personal information from children under the Children?s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)...

Driving Could be a Danger to Your . . . Privacy

Posted on May 06, 2011
Nowadays it seems like every time you turn around, something is invading your privacy. Google and others are watching you as you surf the Web. Apple iPhones are storing information on the locations you visit while carrying your phone. And now word comes that even driving your car may endanger your privacy...

No More “Mr. Nice Guy”

Posted on April 07, 2011
During the first few years after the emergence of the commercial Internet in 1993 (or so), the U.S. government took a hands-off approach to regulation of the ?net. The Clinton Administration, in particular, realized that over-regulation of the Internet in its infancy could have a serious, negative impact on its growth...

Clash of the Titans

Posted on February 02, 2011
As a long-time fan of Apple products (starting with the Apple II in the late 1970s up to today’s latest Mac Pro and iPhone), I was wary of getting an iPad, since I didn?t like the idea of Apple being able to dictate what software I could and could not use on my computer...

Being Digital

Posted on November 09, 2010
In 1995 I read a book written by Nicholas Negroponte ? the Founding Director of the MIT Media Lab. Called, Being Digital, the book made some predictions that were both incredibly exciting and seemingly improbable. This was a time when the Internet was just coming into its own ? having been a closed, government-funded network [...

Should Victims of Online Defamation Have a ?Right of Reply??

Posted on October 12, 2010
Increasingly, courts and commentators are expressing frustration over the immunity that websites have for defamatory statements made by anonymous third parties. The victim cannot sue the website owner due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and often cannot identify the third party that defamed them...

Not All Contracts Are Create Equal

Posted on September 20, 2010
For a number of years, I have taught a law school course titled ?Drafting and Negotiating Technology Contracts.? It is one of many skilled-based courses being offered by law schools today to help their students ?hit the ground running? as they enter the practice of law...

Just Because You Can, Doesn?t Mean You Should

Posted on September 08, 2010
When I was growing up, my dad always told me that ?just because you can do something, doesn?t mean you should.? Just because you can climb that tall tree, doesn?t mean you should. Just because you can ride your bike on that busy street, doesn?t mean you should...

Technology vs. Law: Which Should Lead?

Posted on August 18, 2010
I was intrigued by a recent study of the views of entering college freshman done by Beloit College. Many of the items related to technology, such as: ? With cell phones to tell them the time, there is no need for a wristwatch. ? Email is just too slow?...

You Ain?t Seen Nothing Yet

Posted on August 06, 2010
The growth of the Internet over the last 15 years has been nothing less than spectacular. Few could have imagined when the U.S. government open up the Internet to individuals and commercial interests that the Internet would be the catalyst for such enormous economic growth...

New Online LL.M Program

Posted on June 13, 2010
For many years, Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles (where I am a professor) has offered a unique LL.M program in Entertainment and Media Law. The program is open to lawyers worldwide, and has attracted lawyers from many countries. Unfortunately, a large number of lawyers who would be interested in getting an LL...

Is Net Neutrality Dead?

Posted on May 17, 2010
The Federal Communications Commission?s loss in recent Comcast decision has cast doubt on whether the FCC has the authority to implement net neutrality regulations applicable to ISPs. While Congress certainly has the ability to broaden the FCC?s charter to include regulating the Internet, Republicans in Congress have made it clear that they are not [...

Who?s the King Today?

Posted on February 27, 2010
In the mid-1990s, I spoke on a panel at the ?Digital World? conference in Hollywood, California. It was one of the first conferences to bring together the entertainment industry and the nascent Internet industry. I remember clearly that the keynote speaker, one of the major studio heads at the time, starting off his speech with [...

The Singularity Law Podcast: Episode 1

Posted on September 29, 2008
This is a pilot for a new podcast on technology law that I’ll hopefully be recording each week along with Josh Kagan. In each episode we’ll cover some of the most interesting topics of the week, identify trends, discuss new legislation, analyze recent cases, and end with our favorite talking point of the week...

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Posted on September 24, 2008
?Network neutrality? is a highly charged issue amongst Internet lawyers, business executives, users and government officials. During the formative years of the Internet, the question of whether companies that provided Internet connectivity should treat all users and websites equally was not an issue...

We Need a Technology Policy for the 21st Century

Posted on September 17, 2008
We have gone through the first eight years of the 21st Century without a coherent federal technology policy. During that time, we have seen investment in research and development in real dollars decline and the federal government basically ignore the value of technology to the U...

International IT Law Summer in London Program

Posted on August 25, 2008
In the summer of 2009, Southwestern Law School (Los Angeles) will offer a new summer abroad program in London which will focus on international information technology (IT) law. The program will allow students to study cutting-edge legal issues with an exceptional international faculty...

Prove Our Case? . . . We Don?t Need to Prove Our Stinkin? Case!! Just Fork Over the Money.

Posted on June 22, 2008
In a recent filing with a federal court in Minnesota, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) asserts that it should be permitted to recover up to $150,000 per copyrighted movie allegedly traded online using P2P file sharing without having to prove that anyone actually made a copy of that movie...

How Not to Win Friends (and Influence People)

Posted on June 17, 2008
The blogosphere has been afire about actions taken by Associated Press (AP) against the Drudge Retort last week. According to reports, AP sent a series of DMCA take down notices to the Drudge Retort demanding that the blog remove six items (including one user comment) that quoted AP headlines or snippets of content from AP [...

IT Law Wiki Reaches 3,000 Articles

Posted on May 31, 2008
We have reached another milestone on the development of the IT Law Wiki. It has passed 3,000 articles and is moving toward 4,000. We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the wiki thus far, and would like to encourage others to do so as well...

Generalist vs. Specialist

Posted on May 14, 2008
Law students (and virtually every other kind of student) is under enormous pressure to specialize sooner and sooner. While I specialized early when I was in college, today I see doing so as an enormous error. Law students need to know a lot about a lot of different areas, not just of law, but history, [...

Using Twitter for Legal Updates

Posted on May 12, 2008
Twitter.com is a service that lets people send short messages (140 characters or less) (called “tweets”) to those who decide to “follow” them, and to receive short messages from those they choose to follow. While Twitter.com is used both for social networking and for business communications, it can also be an effective way to get [...

Roommates.com Decision: A Start of a Judicial Trend to ?Rein in? the Web?

Posted on April 21, 2008
The Ninth Circuit recently published its en banc decision in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com LLC, 2008 WL 879293 (9th Cir. April 3, 2008). I do not intend to comment on the merits of the decision, which has been analyzed in depth here and here and here, but I want to [...

Appropriate Technology/Banning Internet Access in Class

Posted on April 14, 2008
When I meet people and tell them I specialize in technology law, they often assume that I must be an earlier adopter of every new geewhiz tech gadget that comes out. But I’m not. I believe in what I refer to as “appropriate technology,” that is, getting the technology you need and what is appropriate [...

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