Discussing copyright law and file-sharing over the years I’ve lost track of how many times students have asked “what about Limewire? Why does it still exist?” The answer has always been “because a court hasn’t shut it down yet.” While a court still hasn’t enjoined Limewire from operating, it took a giant step in that [...]
Facts, insights, and musings from the spring 2010 semester. Average grades: Real Estate Law 87.9/3.35; Internet Law 88.9/3.41; Intro to Law 86.9/3.30 Number of A/A- grades: Real Estate Law 14/10 (27%/19%); Internet Law 19/7 (37%/13%); Intro to Law 16/7 (31%/13%) Number of students who elected grading option B: Real Estate Law 5/9.6%; Internet Law 5/9.4%; [...]
Sometimes I just don’t know what to say. Philip James Conran of West Hartford, CT faces various criminal charges after he confessed to placing a Craigslist ad titled “Looking for lust,” seeking multiple partners to fulfill a group-sex fantasy–and providing the address of a neighbor with whom he was feuding. Strange men started driving past her [...]
In my early years of teaching Internet law I thought the course would be relevant for a decade or so. No longer. These days I tell my students that someday all law will be Internet law as our lives become more entangled with network and digital technology. The wave is still building. The effects of [...]
Albert Gonzalez, Miami-based hacker and computer information thief, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in Boston federal court after pleading guilty for his role in credit and debit card data thefts from TJX Companies and BJ’s Wholesale Club. The sentence was halfway between the 25 years sought by prosecutors and the 15 recommended by Gonzalez’s [...]
Something I’ve been predicting in Internet law for at least five years is happening. (Predict something long enough and you may eventually be correct. A friend put all of his money into cash after predicting the market’s collapse. In 1995.) A March 18th WSJ article titled States Pressure E-Tailers to Collect Sales Tax reports on [...]
Colorado recently amended its tax law to require Internet retailers to collect sales tax on sales to Colorado residents or give the state information about such sales so the state can collect use taxes from purchasers. Amazon responded by canceling its relationships with all Colorado-based participants in its associates program: “As a result of the [...]