The Internet & The Market: Reading Assignments
Part I: Getting Oriented
1. Introduction: What is the Internet
[If you have taken a previous Internet-law related class from me, you don't
have to do the reading for part 1, section 1, but please do all the "doing",
and some of the advanced web tricks]
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Reading
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Findings of fact in ACLU
v. Reno, 929 F. Supp. 824 (E.D.Pa. 1996) .
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A. Michael Froomkin, An
Introduction to the "Governance" of the Internet
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A. Michael Froomkin, The
Internet as a Source of Regulatory Arbitrage, (book chapter) in Borders
in Cyberspace (Brian Kahin and Charles Nesson, eds.) (MIT Press, 1997)
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Doing:
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Read the class
policies
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Subscribe to the class
mailing list -- this
address
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Figure out how to make your e-mail program automatically attach a "signature
block" or ".sig" to each of your messages. Please ensure that you sign
your name to all but intentionally anonymous postings to the class list.
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Send
me an email (not to the list!) in which you tell me about a paragraph's
worth about yourself. Please also include your day & evening phone
numbers and both e-mail and relatively lasting postal mail addresses for
my files. Your email should demonstrate your mastery of the "signature
block" above.
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Go to the Internet
Skills Page and do at least two things from each of the first four
categories. [If you took "Internet and the State" last semester -
do different ones this time plus some of the advanced ones.]
2. Introduction to Digital IP
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Reading
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Roger Clarke, "Information
Wants to be Free"
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Keith W. Porterfield, Information
Wants to be Valuable:
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J. Bradford Delong & A. Michael Froomkin, Speculative
Microeconomics for Tomorrow's Economy (book chapter) in Internet
Publishing and Beyond: The Economics of Digital Information and Intellectual
Property 6 (Brian Kahin & Hal Varian, eds., 2000).
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Mike Godwin, Coming Soon:
Hollywood Versus the Internet (Dec. 18, 2001)
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Jeffrey Benner, Wired.com, Is
Amazon's Honor Plan Honorable? (Feb. 6, 2001)
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Greg Sandoval, Sony
to ban sale of online characters from its popular gaming sites
(Apr. 10, 2000)
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Ann Carrns, Wall St. J., AMA
Moves to Fight the Posting of Its Price Codes on the Internet (Aug.
25, 2000)
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Tim O'Reilly, Lessons
from open-source software development, 42 Comm. ACM 32 (1999) [link
may only work from computers located at subscribing institutions]
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A. Michael Froomkin, The
Collision of Trademarks, Domain Names, and Due Process in Cyberspace,
44 Comm. ACM 91 (2001) [link may only work from computers located at subscribing
institutions]
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Doing
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Look at the terms of service and privacy policies of the University of
Miami web sites and whatever other web site you use the most.
Be prepared to discuss similarities and differences.
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Thinking
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When is it ok to copy software? Books? Movies?
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Who owns (should own?) information about you? Do you know? Do you
care? Why?
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Which extreme is more frightening: a world where no data at all can be
copied without payment/authorization/record-keeping, or one of information
anarchy where no one can be prevented from sharing data at will?
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Thor78 has spent hours accumulating powerful magical goods in EverQuest,
which Thor78 planned to sell on Flea-Bay to raise money for a parental
wedding anniversary gift. Flea-bay has stopped sales of EverQuest
items at Sony's request, pointing to its policy of "removing items for
sale that are identified as intellectual property that is being unlawfully
sold." Thor78 wants to sue someone and HURT them. Has she got
a valid claim against anyone?
3. Introduction to E-commerce in Tangible Goods
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Reading
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Some Sample Business Models
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Don George, Salon.com, Captain
Kirk's Secret (July 14, 2001) and Ira Carnahan, Slate.com, The
Economics of Priceline and what Priceline says about the American economy,
(May 19, 2000)
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Voyeur Dorm v. City of Tampa, 265
F.3d 1232 (11th Cir. 2001) (westlaw
version)
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The Economist, Visible
Hand (Sept. 18, 1999) and NexTag, Help
for First-Time Visitors
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Walter S. Mossberg, Wall St. J., Real
Consumer Choice Has Been Early Victim In Battle of the Titans (Aug.
2, 2001) (westlaw)
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Keith Regan, E-Commerce Times, Amazon's
Tough-Love Privacy Policy (Sept. 6, 2000) & Amazon.com, Privacy
Notice
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Price (and other) Discrimination
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Thomas Heath, Washington Post, Capitals
Owner Puts Pittsburgh Fans on Ice (Apr. 14, 2001) (2001
WL 17620672)
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Linda Rosencrance, Amazon
charging Different Prices on some DVDs (Sept. 5, 2000)
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Florian Zettelmeyer, Fiona Scott Morton & Jorge Silva-Risso, Cowboys
or Cowards: Why are Internet Car Prices Lower? (Oct. 2001) (abstract
only)
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Fiona Scott Morton, Florian Zettelmeyer, & Jorge Silva-Risso, Consumer
Information and Price Discrimination: Does the Internet Affect the Pricing
of New Cars to Women and Minorities? (Sept. 2001) (abstract only)
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Sample Hazards
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Matt Gallaway, Business 2.0, Amazon's
Privacy Woes (Dec. 12, 2000)
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Wired.com, Schwab
Online Breaks Down (Feb. 24, 1999)
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Optional reading [not included in your packet - on reserve in
the library]
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Mark S. Nadel, The Consumer Product Selection Process in an Internet Age:
Obstacles to Maximum Effectiveness & Policy Options, 14 Harv. J.L.
& Tech. 183 (2000). Updated 2001 version can be downloaded
at SSRN.
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Voyeur Dorm L.C. v. City of Tampa, FL, 121 F.Supp.2d 1373 (M.D.Fla. 2000)
(westlaw),
rev'd
265 F.3d 1232 (11th Cir. 2001).
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Saul Hansell, A
Front-Row Seat as Amazon Gets Serious (May 20, 2001)
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Reuters, Amazon
apologizes for random price test (Sept. 28, 2000)
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Blaise Cronin & Elisabeth Davenport, E-Rogenous Zones: Positioning
Pornography on the Internet, 17 The Information Society 22 (2001) [not
online]
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Read the full text of the two Florian Zettelmeyer, Fiona Scott Morton &
Jorge Silva-Risso articles above
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Doing
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Look up today's Priceline
Stock Quote -- and then trace its historical performace. Is this performance
consistent with what we read about Priceline?
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Thinking
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To what extent do the various strategies motivating these merchants depend
on the public not being aware of all or part of what the merchant is doing?
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For each of the readings, imagine you are approached by a person who didn't
get something they wanted, or thinks someone else got a better price or
a better deal, or thinks the merchant shouldn't be allowed to do that..
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Any legal grounds for either an individual or a class action claim?
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If not, is new legislation or regulation needed?
4. Introduction to E-Fraud
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Reading
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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Recommendation
of the OECD Council Concerning Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the
Context of Electronic Commerce (1999)
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SEC v. Colt, Complaint
(Mar. 2, 2000)
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SEC v. Donald Allen English (E-biz), Complaint
(Jan. 31, 2001); Emergency
Motion to Modify Freeze Order (Jan 31, 2001)
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Compare SEC v. SG Ltd., 142 F. Supp. 2d 126 (D. Mass. 2001) (Westlaw
verison), with SEC
v. SG Ltd. 265 F.3d 42 (First Cir. 2001) (Westlaw
version)
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Iopus.com, Password
Recovery
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Yougu Yuan, Eileen Zishuang Ye & Sean Smith, Web
Spoofing 2001 (July 2001)
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Optional
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Todd S. Corey, Catching On-line
Traders in a Web of Lies: The Perils of Internet Stock Fraud (May,
2001)
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Jonna Glasner, Wired.com, They
Price Laundered Money (June 1, 2000)
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SEC, Top Ten
DotCons (Oct. 30, 2000)
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FTC, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection in the Global Electronic
Marketplace: Looking
Ahead (Sept. 2000) (long)
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Doing
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Try the Web
Spoofer Demos
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Thinking
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What, if anything, do the OECD Guidelines require anyone to do? Do
the OECD Guidelines differ in any way from current US law and practices?
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Are Internet frauds likely to be any different than garden-variety frauds?
How?
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If there is a difference, what if anything can be done about it?
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Might Interent-based frauds require special regulation even if they are
basically just the same old thing, or are existing rules and techniques
likely to be sufficient?
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Does your analysis of the problems and solutions change much if the
parties are in different countries?
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Are Internet users more likely to be susceptible to fraud online than in
other parts of their lives? Less likely? Why?
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How security conscious are you when you use the Internet?
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Imagine some malicious uses for the Iopus.com password recovery product
and the Web Spoofer.
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How does one tell a fraud from a toy or the next Big Thing?
5. Some Other Perspectives
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Reading
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A. Michael Froomkin, The
Death of Privacy?, 52 Stan. L. Rev. 1461 (2000) (edited, shorter, version
in packet)
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J.D. Lasica, Online Journalism Review, Search
Engines and Editorial Integrity (July 23, 2001)
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Mitchell L. Moss & Anthony M. Townsend, 16 The Information Society
35, The
Interent Backbone and the American Metropolis (2000)
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Lawrence H. Summers, Tax
Administration in a Global Era (July 10, 2000)
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Optional
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Pamela Samuelson, Five
Challenges for Regulationg the Global Information Society
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Luz E. Nagle, E-Commerce in Latin America: Business and Legal Challenges
for Developing Enterprise, 50 Am. U. L. Rev. 859 (Spring 2001) (should
be available from Am.
U. L. Rev. soon)
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Jukka Heinonen, The Warsaw Convention Jurisdiction and the Internet, 65
J. of Air L. & Comm. 453 (2000) (westlaw)
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Helen Nissenbaum, Securing
Trust Online: Wisdom or Oxymoron?, 81 B.U.L. Rev. 635 (2001)
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Thinking
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In what ways does the Internet change the marketplace?
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In what ways are consumers empowered? Dis-empowered? Which is greater?
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What sort of spill-over effects to 'meatspace' might one be concerned about
from these effects?
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Other than whatever "embarrassment" may caused by having facts about oneself
known to others, are there any other genuinely harmful effects from a "loss
of privacy"? To what extent if any should the law protect the (too
easily?) embarrassed?
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Isn't Scott McNealy basically right?
Last modified: Jan. 14, 2001
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2
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