Announcing the 2026 Edition of My Internet Law Casebook

If you’re an academic and would like a free evaluation PDF, email me. I can also share my course slide deck (over 400 slides). You might also check out (1) my Internet Law course page, which includes 29 years of syllabi, old exams, and sample answers, (2) my article on “Teaching Cyberlaw,” (3) my blog post on teaching Internet Law as an online-only course, and (4) my Canvas modules for my Fall 2021 online-only course (I can email you my most current modules on request).
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Last year, I made multiple big changes to the casebook. In contrast, this year, I only made one big change: I added the Cox v. Sony opinion and deleted Grokster and the copyright liability excerpt from the Frontier case. Due to the Cox opinion, I rewrote a lot of the copyright chapter.
Other changes of note: I added a new “Short Primer on Tracking Technologies” (an excerpt from Doe v. Adventist Health System/West). I added new notes about trespass to chattels and the Coase Theorem, the SAD Scheme, the Social Media Addiction cases, and more. I also rewrote the section about geolocation technologies.
On top of all of that, as usual, I made hundreds of edits throughout the book.
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Over the years, I’ve posted a number of book excerpts, including:
- The entire chapter on online contracts. The 2025 version is available. The chapter would be a helpful supplement to courses wishing to cover online contract formation.
- Primer on CCPA/CPRA (partially deprecated)
- Primer on FOSTA
- Primer on the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) (now deleted)
- Primer on Section 230
- Excerpt on right to be forgotten
- Excerpt on CFAA/Nosal/Power Ventures (now deleted)
- Excerpt on transborder content enforcement
- Excerpt on Brazil’s Marco Civil (now deleted)
- Excerpt on notes about UMG v. Shelter Capital
(Some of these excerpts are now outdated, but every year I update everything that’s still in the book).
As always, I invite your comments and questions.
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Table of Contents
I. What is the Internet? Who Regulates It?
Overview
Noah v. AOL (E.D. Va.)
Determining the Geographic Location of Internet-Connected Devices
II. Jurisdiction
Evaluating Personal Jurisdiction
Briskin v. Shopify (9th Cir. en banc)
III. Contracts
Chabolla v. ClassPass (9th Cir.)
Godun v. JustAnswer (9th Cir.)
Canteen v. Charlotte Metro Credit Union (N.C. Sup. Ct.)
IV. Trespass/Computer Fraud & Abuse Act
Review: the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. §1030 [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1030], and California Penal Code §502 [https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=502.&lawCode=PEN]
Overview of Trespass to Chattels Doctrines
X v. Bright Data (N.D. Cal.)
V. Copyright
Copyright Basics (Copyright Office Circular 1)
Note About Fair Use
Griner v. King (8th Cir.)
Cartoon Network v. CSC (2d Cir.)
Cox v. Sony (Sup. Ct.)
Secondary Liability
Review: 17 U.S.C. §512 [http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#512]
Overview of Section 512(c)
UMG v. Shelter Capital (9th Cir. revised opinion)
Recap
Ticketmaster v. RMG
VI. Trademarks and Domain Names
Review: 15 U.S.C. §1114 [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1114], 15 U.S.C. §1125 [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1125], and 15 U.S.C. §8131 [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/8131]
Trademark FAQs
Trademark Glossary
Domain Names and Metatags
Review: ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy [https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/policy-2024-02-21-en] and Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy [https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/udrp-rules-2024-02-21-en]
Lamparello v. Falwell (4th Cir.)
Promatek v. Equitrac (7th Cir.) Original Order and Revision
Search Engines
Review: Google’s Trademark Policy [https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6118]
Lerner & Rowe v. Brown Engstrand & Shely (9th Cir.)
Secondary Trademark Liability
Tiffany v. eBay (2d Cir.)
VII. Content Regulation and Child Safety
Pornography Glossary
Moody v. NetChoice (U.S. Sup. Ct.)
A Note on Congress’ Early Regulation of Online Pornography
Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (U.S. Sup. Ct.)
VIII. Defamation and Information Torts
Bauer v. Brinkman (Iowa Sup. Ct.)
47 U.S.C. §230
An Introduction to Section 230
A Note About FOSTA
Zeran v. America Online (4th Cir.)
Lemmon v. Snap (9th Cir.)
A Note on the Take It Down Act
Twitter v. Taamneh (U.S. Sup. Ct.)
Top Myths About Content Moderation
Section 230 and Foreign Liability for Third-Party Content
IX. Privacy
Review: 16 C.F.R. Part 312 [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-312]
Excerpts from 16 C.F.R. Part 312, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act’s Regulations
Overview of the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and State Consumer Privacy Laws
Short Primer on Tracking Technologies
In re. Pharmatrak (1st Cir.)
X. Spam
Review: CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-108publ187/pdf/PLAW-108publ187.pdf] and 16 C.F.R. Part 316 [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-316]
XI. Social Media
People v. Lopez (Cal. App. Ct.)
Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel (Cal. App. Ct.)
REVIEW QUESTION ANSWERS