Congress Is About To Ruin Its Online Free Speech Masterpiece (Cross-Post)
[Before last week’s Senate hearing on SESTA, I posted a version of this blog post on the ACS Blog. This has been partially superseded by my Senate testimony, which I’ll post more about shortly.] In 1996, Congress became concerned that excessive liability…
Global Content Removals Based on Local Legal Violations (Internet Law Casebook Excerpt)
[Eric’s note: I’m sharing an excerpt from my Internet Law casebook discussing transborder content removal orders, including the Equustek case.] From the Internet’s earliest days, the tension between a global communication network and local geography-based laws has been obvious. One…
How Section 230 Helps Sex Trafficking Victims (and SESTA Would Hurt Them) (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Alex F. Levy [Eric’s introduction: Alex Levy teaches Human Trafficking and Human Markets at Notre Dame Law School. She has written a timely and provocative article, The Virtues of Unvirtuous Spaces, about Backpage and online sexual commerce….
Announcing the 2017 Edition of ‘Internet Law: Cases & Materials’
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 $8, as a Kindle book for $9.99, and in hard copy at CreateSpace…
Ban on Sex Offenders Using Social Media Violates First Amendment–Packingham v. North Carolina
Yesterday, the Supreme Court struck down a North Carolina law that banned registered sex offenders from using social media sites. It’s a rare treat to get a Supreme Court opinion delving into Internet content regulations, and as a bonus, this…
Recapping the “Can Technology Rescue Democracy” Essay Series at The Atlantic
As I mentioned before, I helped organize a series of essays at The Atlantic addressing the question: “Is technology hurting our democracy, and can it help save it?” The series is now complete, so I thought it was worth revisiting…
How Is Texting a Dick Pic Like Masturbating in a Person’s Presence?–State v. Decker
My apologies for the indelicate headline. If you’re reading this because you’re hoping for some salacious insights regarding sexting, dick pics or masturbation, this post will disappoint you. An obvious protip: taking advice from a law professor on such topics…
Will Technology Destroy Our Democracy–or Save It? A Series of Papers at The Atlantic
The decade-old book The Victorian Internet recaps the rise and fall of the telegraph. The telegraph was supposed to connect people together, but instead it played a crucial role facilitating ever-more-destructive wars. The author wrote: “That the telegraph was so…
WARNING: Draft “No Immunity for Sex Traffickers Online Act” Bill Poses Major Threat to Section 230
I rarely blog about draft bills that have not yet been introduced. Sometimes those drafts never get introduced at all; other times, the draft bills are revised in key ways before introduction. This particular draft has been circulating for a…
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 11 (Social Media, Harassment, E-Discovery & More)
Social Media * US v. Elonis, 2016 WL 6310803 (3d Cir. Oct. 28, 2016). Anthony Elonis’ conviction for criminal threats was once again upheld: Considering the graphic nature of the three messages Elonis posted in October, it is not at…