Legal aspects
Based on
Law in the Internet Age
Sharon K. Black
Overview
• Intellectual property law
– Trade Secrets
– Copyrights and Patents
• Trade restrictions and Encouragements
– Crypto export restrictions
– The key escrow debate
– Tariffs, GATT, etc.
Overview (Continued)
• Privacy laws
• Cyberlaw
– Antihacking
– Consumer privacy
– Content
• Defamation and Obscenity
• ISP and operator liability
• State laws on signature, etc.
Intellectual property law
• Trade Secrets
– Information whose commercial value is secrecy
• Difference between friends and strangers
– Some protection under the electronic espionage act
• Copyrights
– Copyrights cover “works of authorship”
– Only the unique expression is covered, not the underlying facts
Intellectual property law (more on copyrights)
– Exceptions
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Limited use by owner
Public access
Fair use (news and education, decompilation for interoperability)
Software must be copied to be used
– What constitutes infringement
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Similarity
Access (did it occur)
Evaluation of fair use
Was reverse engineering used
– The DMCA
• Can’t undo copying controls
• Limited liability for ISP’s
• Current arguments
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Napster
Photographs
Software
Text
Intellectual property law (patents)
• Patents
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Patent gives exclusive use of an invention (make, use, and sell)
Must be new and useful process, machine, manufacture, etc.
Computers and programs often fail the nonobvious test –
Patent process is difficult, copyright is easy
• Remedies and penalties
– Remedies
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Injunctive relief (stop doing it)
Civil damages (actual and statutory)
Seizure
Criminal penalties
– License agreement can be more restrictive but not all are legal
Privacy and Content Issues
• Privacy isn’t in the Bill of Rights (in PR eavesdropping is)
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Tort law covers it in a limited way
Unreasonable intrusion
Unreasonable disclosure
False light and appropriation
Commercial privacy is a current topic
• Hollings bill weakens protections
• Some other new proposals are ambiguous
• Examples
– Medical data (insurance vs damage due to disclosure)
– Financial data (buying habits)
– Financial data (credit and tax assessment)
– Zones of privacy (marriage and associations)
• Exceptions based on commercial use (marketing applications)
Privacy and communications
• Interception is illegal
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Federal communications act, etc.
Court-ordered wiretaps are controlled (less after 9-11)
Employers have near-exclusive rights
Public records (Freedom of information act)
Bank secrecy and fair credit reporting