20 January
Introduction to the Course

22 January
First Amendment Basics

Web work:
• View Nuremberg Files web site
  
• View Stormfront web site
  

Case work:
• Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
• Watts v. United States (1969)
• United States v. Baker (E. D. Mich. 1995)
• Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists (9th Cir. 2001)

Supplemental work:
• Visit Jake Baker Information Page
• Read "New Version of the Nuremberg Files Yanked Off the Web"

27 January
Sexually Explicit Speech 1: The Case for Regulating the Internet

Web work:
• Visit Yahoo's Directory on Sexuality
• Visit "Items the Censors Don't Want You to See"

Case work:
• Roth v. United States (1957)
• Ginsberg v. United States (1968)
• Miller v. California (1973)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)
• Renton v. Playtime Theatres (1986)

Supplemental work:
• Read "JournoPorn: Dissection of the Time Scandal"
• Read "The Cyberporn Debate"
• View Frontline on American Porn

29 January
Sexually Explicit Speech 2: Communications Decency Act

Web work:
• Excerpts from the Communications Decency Act

Case work:
• Reno v. ACLU (1997)

Supplemental work:
• Visit Electronic Privacy Information Center, Communication Decency Act

3 February
Sexually Explicit Speech 3: Child Online Protection Act

Web work:
• Excerpts from the Child Online Protection Act

Case work:
• Ashcroft v. ACLU (2002)

Supplemental work:
• Visit Electronic Privacy Information Center, Child Online Protection Act

5 February
Sexually Explicit Speech 4: Child Pornography

Web work:
• Read excerpts from Child Pornography Protection Act of 1996 (CPPA)

Case work:
• New York v. Ferber (1982)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)

10 February
Sexually Explicit Speech 5: State and Local Laws

Web work:
• Visit the Voyeur Dorm web site

Case work:
• United States v. Thomas (6th Cir. 1996)
• American Library Association v. Pataki (S.D. N.Y. 1997)
• American Civil Liberties Union v. Johnson (10th Cir., 1999)
• Cyberspace Communications v. Engler (E.D. Mich. 1999)
• Voyeur Dorm L.C. v. City of Tampa (11th Cir. 2001)
• PSINet, Inc. v. Chapman (W.D. Va. 2001)
• American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression v. Dean (2nd. Cir. 2003)

12 February
Sexually Explicit Speech 6: Filters and the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

Web work:
• Visit Electronic Privacy Information Center, Children's Internet Protection Act
• Read National Coalition Against Censorship, Internet Filters: A Public Policy Report

Case work:
• Mainstream Loudoun v. Board of Trustees of the Loudoun County Library (E.D. Va. 1998)
• Kathleen R. v. City of Livermore (Cal. App. 2001)
• American Library Association v. United States (2003)

Supplemental work:
• Read Electronic Privacy Information Center, Censorware: A Post-CDA Solution
• American Civil Liberties Union, Fahrenheit 451.2: Is Cyberspace Burning? (2002)

17 February
MIDTERM EXAMINATION #1

19 February
Defamation 1: Elements

Case work:
• New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
• Gertz v. Welch (1974)

24 February
Defamation 2: Publishers vs. Distributors

Web work:
• Section 230 of the Telecommunications Act

Case work:
• Cubby v. Compuserve (S.D. N.Y. 1991)
• Stratton Oakmont v. Prodigy (N.Y.S. 1995)
• Zeran v. America Online, Inc. (4th Cir. 1997)

26 February
Defamation 3: Good Samaritans

Case work:
• Blumenthal v. Drudge and America Online (D.D.C. 1998)
• Jane Doe v. America Online (Fla. 1998)
• Ben Ezra, Weinstein and Company v. America Online (10th Cir. 2001)
• PatentWizard v. Kinko's (S.D. S.D. 2001)
• Schneider v. Amazon.com (Ct. of Appeals, Wash., 2001)
• Carafano v. Metrospash.com (9th Cir. 2003)

2 March
NO CLASS, SPRING BREAK

4 March
NO CLASS, SPRING BREAK

9 March
Defamation 4: Anonymity

Web work:
• Visit Anonymity Index web site

Case work:
• McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995)
• Dendrite International v. Doe, No. 3 (N.J. Sup. Ct. 2001)

11 March
Privacy 1: Basic Issues

Case work:
• Zeran v. Diamond Broadcasting (W.D. Ok. 1997)
• Leary v. Punzi (N.Y.S. 1999)
• Michels v. Internet Entertainment Group (C.D. Cal. 1998)
• Dwyer v. American Express (Ill. 1995)

16 March
Privacy 2: Email

Web work:

• Excerpts from Electronic Communications Privacy Act
• BC Policies and Procedures Manual, Use of University Technological and Information Resources

Case work:
• Smyth v. Pillsbury (E.D. Penn. 1996)
• Terry Jessup-Morgan v. America Online. (E.D. Mich. 1998)
• McVeigh v. Cohen (D.D.C. 1998)
• Fraser v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (3rd. Cir. 2003)

18 March
Privacy 3: Data Mining

Web work:
• Visit Privacy.net web site
• Visit EPIC Online Guide to Practical Privacy Tools web site
• Read Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998
• Read Federal Trade Commission, Fair Information Practices in the Electronic Marketplace (2000)

Case work:
• Federal Trade Commission, In the Matter of Geocities (1998)

23 March
Trademark 1: Trademarks, Trademark Infringement, and Trademark Dilution

Web work:
• Compare the www.clue.com and www.cluegame.com web sites
• Compare the Google and Booble web sites
• Go to a search engine (Google or Yahoo) and search the term "playboy" or "playmate"
• Visit the Terri Welles web site

Case work:
• Polaroid Corp. v. Polarad Electronics Corp. (2nd Cir. 1961)
• Brookfield Communications v. West Coast Entertainment (9th Cir. 1999)
• Hasbro v. Clue Computing (1st Cir. 2000)
• Playboy Enterprises v. Netscape Communications Co. (C.D. Cal. 1999)
• Playboy Enterprises v. Welles (9th Cir 2002)
• Mosley v. Victoria's Secret (2003)

• Read "Google Slaps Booble"

25 March
Trademark 2: Domain Names, Cybersquatting, and Typosquatting

Web work:
• Visit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
• Read summary of Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (1999)

Case work:
• MTV v. Curry (S.D. N.Y. 1994)
• Intermatic Inc. v. Toeppen (N.D. Ill. 1996)
• Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Bucci (S.D. N.Y. 1997)
• Sporty's Farm v. Sportsman's Market, Inc.. (2nd Cir. 2000)
• Shields v. Zuccarini (3rd Cir. 2001)
• E. & J. Gallo Winery v. Spider Webs Ltd. (5th Cir. 2002)

• Supplemental work:
• Read "Guilty Plea in Net Porn Case"

30 March
CLASS CANCELLED

1 April
Trademark 3: Gripe Sites, Parody, Linking and Framing

Web work:

• Visit Bally Sucks, LemonAid, and Starbucked.com,
• Compare the PETA and People Eating Tasty Animals web sites
• Visit Total News web site

Case work:
• Ticketmaster Corp. v. Microsoft Corp. (settled out of court)
• Washington Post v. Total News (S.D. N.Y. 1997) (settled out of court)
• Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. v. Faber (C.D. Cal. 1998)
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc. v. Doughney (E.D. Va. 2000)

6 April
Copyright 1: Copyright Basics

Web work:
• Read U.S. Copyright Office's Copyright Basics
• Excerpts from the Read summary of No Electronic Theft Act (1997)
• Summary of the Read summary of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998)
• Excerpts from the Read summary of Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (1998)

Case work:
• Harper and Row v. Nation Enterprises (1985)
• Los Angeles Times v. Free Republic (C.D. Cal. 2000)
• U.S. v. LaMacchia (D. Mass. 1994)
• Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)

8 April
NO CLASS, EASTER BREAK

13 April
Copyright 2: Copyright Infringement

Case work:
• Religious Technology Center v. Netcom (N.D. Cal. 1995)
• Playboy v. Hardenburgh (N.D. Ohio 1997)
• Playboy v. Sanfilippo (S.D. Cal. 1998)

15 April
Copyright 3: The MP3 cases

Web work:
• Visit the Kazaa web site
• Visit the Napster 2.0 web site
• Visit the Recording Industry Association of America web site

Case work:
• UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com (S.D. N.Y. 2000)
• A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. (9th Cir. 2001)
• A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. (9th Cir. 2002)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster (C.D. Cal. 2003)
• RIAA v. Verizon (D. D.C. 2003)

Supplemental work:
• Visit the Respect Copyrights.Org web site
• Read PEW Research Center, "Sharp Decline in Music File Swapping"
• Read "RIAA Lawsuits Yield Mixed Results"
• Read "Lawsuits Damp Down P2P Audience"
• Read "Why File Swapping Tide is Turnng"
• Read "P2P Companies Say They Can't Filter"

20 April
Copyright 4: Linking and Framing

Case work:
• Futuredontics Inc. v. Applied Anagramics Inc. (C.D. Cal. 1998)
• Painewebber Inc. v. wwwpainewebber.com (E.D. Va. 1999)
• Intellectual Reserve v. Utah Lighthouse Ministry (C.D. Cal 2000)

22 April
MIDTERM EXAMINATION #2

27 April
Special Topics 1: Unsolicited Commercial Email (spam)

Web work:
• Center for Democracy & Technology, Why Am I Getting All This Spam?
• Read the text of the "Can Spam" Act (2003)

Case work:
• Cyber Promotions, Inc. v. America Online (E.D. Pa. 1996)
• CompuServe Inc. v. Cyber Promotions (S.D. Oh. 1997)
• Washington v. Heckel (Wash. 2001)

Supplemental work:
• Read the famous "Green Card Spam" (by two attorneys, Canter and Siegel)
• Read a transcript of "The Monty Python Spam Sketch"
• Visit the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email web site
• Read "Spam: The Scourge Can't be Contained"

29 April
Special Topics 2: Schools

Case work:
• J.S. v. Bethlehem Area School District (Pa. Comm. Ct. 2000)
• Emmett v. Kent School District No. 415 (W.D. Wash. 2000)

4 May
Special Topics 3: Encryption

Case work:
• Bernstein v. United States Department of Justice (9th Cir. 2000)
• Junger v. Daly (6th Cir. 2000)

Supplemental work:
• Read "The RIAA Succeeds Where the Cyberphunks Failed"

6 May
Special Topics 4: International Issues

Case work:
• In re Somm, Urteil des Amtsgericht Munchen (May 28, 1998) (Ger.)
• League Against Racism and Antisemitism v. Yahoo! Inc. (County Court of Paris 2000)
• Yahoo! Inc. v. La Ligue Contre Le Racisme et L'Antisemitisme (N.D. Cal. 2001)

12 May
FINAL EXAMINATION (Wednesday, 12:30 p.m.)

Copyright © 2004 Dale A. Herbeck
Last update: 17 January 2004