Please Note: These topics are suggested, not required.  They identify general areas for inquiry.  Further research is necessary to hone and develop a precise topic.  New suggested topics may be posted to this website during the course of the semester, so please check back here often.

Note Topics:

Cyberlaw:

How shold the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Patriot Act provisions regarding interception of electronic communications and government access to ISP subscribers' electronic records be amended? (n.b. there are two recent cases on National Security Letters and access to stored e-mail that might be of interest here)

Do new authentication systems offer a viable solution to SPAM?  How should such systems be regulated?

Develop new privacy legislation aimed at unjustified commercial publication of unduly invasive and detailed records of on-line activity

Propose groundrules for regulation of use and disclosure of geographic location information regarding individuals.

What rules should govern deployment of private sector biometric identification systems?

What rules should govern distribution of spyware and adware?

Should computer owners and/or system suppliers be liable for failure to adopt minimum computer and network security measures?

What if anything should Congress do, consistent with constitutional limitations, to protect children from pornographic materials distributed on the web and by email?

Analyze enforcement and interpretation of the CAN-SPAM Act.

When should software engineers be liable for malfunctioning software? Does it matter whether software is incorporated into consumer goods? Should rules re warranties apply?

Should ISPs and the creators of virtual worlds have any minimum set of duties to subscribers in connection with revocation of identifiers?

How should Voice Over IP (VoIP) be regulated (if at all)?

How should disputes with regard to taxation of internet access and of internet-based transactions be resolved?

E-Democracy/E-Government:

Assess progress of implementation of E-Government Act of 2002.

Analyze new requirement for Privacy Impact Asessments by all federal agencies to address how citizen information is used and stored.

Write about new Council of Europe electronic voting standards, the first to be promulgated in the world.

Analyze World Summit on the Information Society proposals regarding internet governance. Assess optimal role of ICANN in this process.

Should ICANN be found to have complied with its Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Commerce? Should ICANN be given control over the root zone file?

What conditions should ICANN impose with respect to the creation of new Top Level Domains?

Should VeriSign be allowed to introduce its Sitefinder service? Analyze the state of the “end to end” principle.

When should local governments defer to rules established for conduct in online spaces?

How will the net affect activism and organizing?

How should courts encourage and regulate the creation of electronic filing systems and online hearings?  Assess new New York state proposals for electronic court filings.  Discuss implications for access and privacy.

What changes to election law are required to take into account new forms of communication and fundraising on the internet?

Discuss the role of  weblawgs in law practice.

Analyze the role of the federal government's Chief Information Officer (CIO) Council.  Discuss reforms.

Discuss limitations on patents in the area of e-voting and other public technologies.

Cybercrime:

Analyze the Cybercrime Treaty and make proposals for enhancement or regulation of law enforcement activities related to cybercrime.

IP Law:

Analyze the recent BNetD litigation (Davidson and Associates v. Internet Gateway) on game mods.

Assess proposals in the about-to-be-passed Create Act (H.R. 2391) on collaborative research. Assess the impact on cooperative research and development  of the amendment to section 103 of the Patent Act to exclude from combination references developed by employees of different companies operating under a joint research and development agreement (overruling the Federal Circuit case Oddz-On Products). 

Assess current Department of Justice proposals to increase criminal prosecution of intellectual property

Discuss reforms at the root of H.R. 4520, proposed legislation to limit tax deductions on the donation of intellectual property to universities.

Analyze the Grokster and Aimster cases regarding peer-to-peer file swapping technologies

Discuss the potential impact on the entertainment software industry of the Marvel Comics v. NCSoft case, the first case dealing with IP infringement by players of videogames. 

Compare use of contributory and vicarious copyright infringement claims against platform owners across media (ISPs, P2P, videogames).

What “property” regimes should the creators of virtual worlds adopt? Should digital property be handled differently from intellectual property? Does the ability of a game engine to enforce rules regarding copying and use of digital objects provide an opportunity or pose a threat?

Should the distribution of peer-to-peer software be regulated? Should those who distribute systems designed primarily to facilitate copyright infringement be liable for contributory infringement or for inducing infringement? Analyze INDUCE Act proposals.

Does the FCC have ancillary jurisdiction to enact the "Broadcast Flag" rules for digital television? Should equipment manufacturers be required to build in systems that honor the broadcast flag?

Analyze proposed U.S. legislation regarding database protection. Compare to European database directive.

How should the ICANN Uniform Dispute Resolution Process for resolving conflicts between trademark owners and domain name holders be revised?

Should trademark law be revised to eliminate consequences from failure to police the use of a mark in the context of domain names?

How does use in commerce in an on-line environment affect secondary meaning and the strength of trademark rights?

Discuss the implications for intellectual property and higher education of distance learning in law schools and universities.

Analyze the New Zealand trademark law that gives native groups a veto over the use of their tribal words as marks. Analyze assertions at WIPO of rights to control use of geographic names as marks or as domain names.

Ethical limits of patentability.  How are they changing?

Software patenting: Comparing Europe and the United States (and recent amendments in Europe to prevent software patenting)

Art Law:

Discuss the evolving definition of "recognized stature" under the Visual Artists Rights Act

Assess  the "captive audience" doctrine in art-related cases asserted as a state interest to justify impingement upon an artist's 1st Amendment rights

Address how the Sup. Ct. case of NEA v. Finley has affected the type of art projects submitted for government funding

Other:

Discuss the enactment of a federal publicity statute (to make publicity rights uniform)

Projects (project are more hands-on, designed-oriented and practice-based):

Draft electronic voting standards for New York State legislature

Join Cairns project team.  Deploy Cairns in area of interest to you.  Network with organization leaders in that area to implement the project.

Build a legal expert system.

Build a library of “clickable statutes” that demonstrates the potential applications of interactive diagrams to explain complex legal rules. Survey new approaches to the visualization of legal doctrine.

Develop a proposal for use of the internet to enhance democracy or improve government.

Develop a software-based simulation to be used in legal education. Develop a substantive legal game.

Apply genetic algorithm tools to find solutions to a multi-party, multi-issue dispute.

Design a means of using the net to regulate environmental resources more effectively and to place more control over such resources at the local level.

Design and create an online policy jury to oversee the activities of a political official and assess the potential impact of such a mechanism.