Chapter 18-Internet Law

wwwWorld Wide Web-Wild,Wild

West?

New Global Community has caused many ethical dilemmas

Unequal Accessincreasingwealth gap.

Virtual Life?Alienation-- Boy, my

arms aregetting tired.

Moral Decay--Internet Gambling

&Pornography

Jurisdiction

All courts must have Subject Matter Jurisdiction& Personal Jurisdiction. Due to the Internet’s unique nature, often parties find themselveslitigating against others from all parts of the globe….so how do you establish the court’s “power”to hear the case?

The internet knows no borders---

In Yahoo Case (where Government of France sued Yahoo for violatingFrench Criminal Codes by auctioning off Nazi memerobilia shows how Different “free speech” rights are in various countries and the US courts Refused to “honor” the French court’s ruling against Yahoo!

Commercial Speech• Commercial Speech is

afforded 1st Amendment protection but on-line communication has been misused.

• Spam• Defamation• Misleading sales

pitches.

Spam Spam

Spam

Spam

Spam

Spam

Spam

Spam

Spam

Spam

Spam

SpamSpam

Privacy

Since for the most part the government hasallowed the Market (Internet) to regulateitself, there is very few “Privacy” controls*Cookies--*Selling of e-mail Addresses*Profiling of Users

1998 COPPA LawPrevents collectinginfo. From children

under 13--

No Expectationin Users

Screen names

YumYum

• THE US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PASSED THE COPPA ACT (CHILDREN’S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT) IN 1998 WHICH PREVENTS WEBSITES FROM COLLECTING PRIVATE INFORMATION FROM CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13 WITHOUT PARENTAL PERMISSION.

• This law is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

1998 COPPA Law

Internet Crimes

CyberstalkingVirus AttacksPiracy of Copyrighted MaterialsFraudTheft of Credit Card NumbersTheft of User’s IdentityMis-information on Stocks

Napster

How It Works--

JUDGE JUDY READY TO RULE----

Case: A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., Record companies& artists claim Napster is stealing their intellectual property(songs) through its web service that allows users to copy MP3files. Napster claims “fair use” defense and that they are notthe “copiers”…..

Music to my ears----Napster is merely stealing

copyrighted items and should be shut down!

Appeals has ordered Napster

to stop the pirating of

copyrightedmaterials-

February2001

Just a note!

• “fair use doctrine” allows limited, non-profit use of copyrighted material without permission under some conditions (like classroom teaching)

• Business plans & strategies can be protected by trade secret laws.

• The growth potential of the Internet is not likely to be fully realized unless a new international framework arises to provide an environment of legal and commercial consistency.

Internet Commercial Law

E-Signature: The 2000 Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN) elevates electronic signatures the same legal level and as traditional handwritten ones for most commercial purposes

Internet Commercial Law

Napster

Cybersquatting

The 1999 Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act Protects trademarks from being infringed upon by the registration of a domain name that is the same orSubstantially similar to cause confusion. The trademark holder must show a bad faith intention by the registrant to profit from the registration, traffic in the name, or use the name.

Internet Commercial Law

Shrink-Wrap and Click-Wrap Agreements: Software license terms often say that in opening the shrink-wrap package (shrink-wrap) binds the user to the terms & conditions. When a internet user “clicks” on the “I agree” or “I Accept/consent” button, then a legally bindingcontract has occurred (Click-wrap) or using thesoftware the buyer agrees to the terms. These types of agreements areGenerally enforceable so long as the end user has the ability to return the Package for a full refund before installation or the web user had the Option to select “I disagree” or back out of the web page without going Forward.

Taxing the Internet?

The ban on Internet taxes was recently renewed and Extended as of November 2004.

Is this fair to “favor” one Industry over another when Applying sales taxes?

New

Successors/Assigns Clause

Time Out!

BreakTime!