Announcing the 2018 Edition of My Internet Law Casebook
I’m pleased to announce this year’s edition of my Internet Law casebook, Internet Law: Cases & Materials. It’s available for sale as a PDF at Gumroad for $10, as a Kindle book for $9.99, in hard copy at Amazon for $24 + shipping, and in hard copy and editable electronic formats from LawCarta. For my thoughts about self-publishing an ebook casebook, see this article.
If you’re an academic and would like a free evaluation copy, please email me. I can also provide my presentation slides and lecture notes for your evaluation. You might also check out my Internet Law course page, which includes 20+ years of syllabi (including this year’s) and old exams with sample answers, plus my article “Teaching Cyberlaw.”
It’s been a few years since I’ve made major changes to the book, but this year was a busy (and mostly bad) one for Internet law. As a result, I made 5 major changes to the book:
1) I replaced Specht v. Netscape–a casebook stalwart for a dozen years–with Meyer v. Uber. This was a tough decision because the Specht case had significant pedagogical value. However, the Second Circuit has issued a number of online contract formation rulings in recent years, and using Meyer v. Uber case allowed me to skip some of the intervening jurisprudential drama/confusion. Plus, Meyer is a mobile device case, which freshens up the chapter and is perhaps a little more millennial-friendly.
Because the book’s contracts discussion was tied closely to Specht, I reworked the entire online contracts chapter. I’m so pleased with the results that I posted the entire chapter to SSRN as a free download.
2) For the first time (remarkably), I added a primer on Section 230. This primer, and the comparison between Section 230 and other countries’ rules, will eventually find its way to SSRN.
3) I added a module on FOSTA. I burned through a lot of Kleenex tissues and brain cells writing it.
4) I added a primer on GDPR. Writing it was a miserable week of my life that I’ll never get back.
5) I added a primer on the California Consumer Privacy Act. More Kleenex and dead brain cells. I’ve also posted this primer to SSRN.
I also made dozens of smaller changes throughout the book, especially to the DMCA section. Altogether, the book grew nearly 10% this year.
As an experiment, this year I added Prof. Jonathan Zittrain’s case study on Facebook’s contagion experiment to the course as a short writing exercise. I’m curious how students respond to the case study. Manipulating Facebook users’ moods seems almost quaint in comparison to Facebook’s role in the 2016 elections and beyond!
As always, I invite your comments and questions.
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The complete table of contents:
I. What is the Internet? Who Regulates It?
ACLU v. Reno (CDA I District Ct. Facts Only) …………………………………………………. Page 1
Noah v. AOL (E.D. Va.) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 22
Determining the Geography of Internet-Connected Devices …………………………………… 32
II. Jurisdiction
Protocol for Evaluating Personal Jurisdiction…………………………………………………………. 41
Toys ‘R’ Us v. Step Two (3d Cir.) ……………………………………………………………………………… 42
Illinois v. Hemi Group (7th Cir.) ……………………………………………………………………………… 53
III. Contracts
Meyer v. Uber (2d Cir.) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 58
Register.com v. Verio (2d Cir.) ………………………………………………………………………………… 80
Harris v. Blockbuster ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 90
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]
Comparison of Trespass to Chattels Doctrines ……………………………………………………… 101
Intel v. Hamidi (Cal. Sup. Ct.) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 102
Register.com v. Verio (Trespass to Chattels section)……………………………………………… 123
Online Trespass to Chattels: a Failed Experiment ………………………………………………… 126
V. Copyright
Copyright Basics (Copyright Office Circular 1) ……………………………………………………… 130
Note About Fair Use ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 134
Cartoon Network v. CSC (2d Cir.) …………………………………………………………………………. 138
MGM Studios v. Grokster (Sup. Ct.) ……………………………………………………………………… 150
Secondary Liability
Review: 17 U.S.C. §512 [http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#512]
Goldman’s 512(c) Cheat Sheet ……………………………………………………………………………….. 163
UMG v. Shelter Capital (9th Cir. revised opinion) ………………………………………………… 165
How the DMCA’s Online Copyright Safe Harbor Failed ……………………………………….. 185
Recap
Ticketmaster v. RMG ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 188
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 ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 201
Trademark Glossary ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 203
Domain Names and Metatags
Review: ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy [https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/policy-2012-02-25-en] and Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy [https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/udrp-rules-2015-03-11-en]
Lamparello v. Falwell (4th Cir.) …………………………………………………………………………….. 206
Promatek v. Equitrac (7th Cir.) Original Order and Revision ……………………………….. 220
Search Engines
Review: Google’s Trademark Policy [https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/6118]
Network Automation v. Advanced Systems Concepts (9th Cir.) …………………………….. 227
Tiffany v. eBay (2d Cir.) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 245
VII. Pornography
Pornography Glossary …………………………………………………………………………………………… 260
Reno v. ACLU (Sup. Ct. 1997) ………………………………………………………………………………… 261
Ashcroft v. ACLU (Sup. Ct. 2004) …………………………………………………………………………… 277
VIII. Defamation and Information Torts
47 U.S.C. §230 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 292
An Introduction to Section 230 ……………………………………………………………………………… 295
A Note About FOSTA ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 303
Zeran v. America Online (4th Cir.) ………………………………………………………………………… 311
Fair Housing Council v. Roommates.com (9th Cir. en banc) …………………………………… 319
International Approaches to Liability for Information Torts …………………………………. 346
IX. Privacy
Review: 16 C.F.R. Part 312 [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-01-17/pdf/2012-31341.pdf (starting at page 38)]
Excerpts from 16 C.F.R. Part 312, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act’s Regulations 359
The E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ……………………………………….. 361
An Introduction to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) …………………………. 368
In re. Pharmatrak (1st Cir.) …………………………………………………………………………………… 375
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 [http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&rgn=div5&view=text&node=16:1.0.1.3.40&idno=16]
Where’s the Beef? Dissecting Spam’s Purported Harms ……………………………………….. 387
XI. Blogs and Social Networking Sites
The Third Wave of Internet Exceptionalism …………………………………………………………. 396
People v. Lopez (Cal. App. Ct.) ………………………………………………………………………………. 398
Doe v. MySpace (5th Cir.) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 402
Zimmerman v. Weis Markets ………………………………………………………………………………… 409
Farley v. Callais & Sons …………………………………………………………………………………………. 412
In re Rolando S. (Cal. App. Ct.) ……………………………………………………………………………… 418
Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel (Cal. App. Ct.) …………………………………………………………… 423
REVIEW QUESTION ANSWERS ………………………………………………………………………. 430