Week 7: Law & Internet Seminar (LAW 745)

Anonymity on the Net

We will discuss how the Internet makes anonymity possible, the potential social and legal consequences of rampant anonymity, and how the legal system might react to these consequences. 

Reading:

  1. Parts I & II of Froomkin, Flood Control on the Information Ocean  [we will be reading parts III & IV in a later assignment...]
  2. Julie E.Cohen,  A Right to Read AnonymousIy: A Closer look at "Copyright Management" in Cyberspace, 28 Conn. L. Rev. 981 (1996). Note: this link takes you to page with an abstract from which you can download the paper. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read this paper (the link takes you to a page that will allow you to download it).
  3. McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 115 S.Ct. 1511 (1995).
  4. American Library Ass'n v. Reno, 33 F.3d 78 (D.C. Cir. 1994)
  5. American Library Ass'n v. Reno, 33 F.3d 78 (D.C. Cir. 1994), reh'g en banc den., 47 F.3d 1215 (D.C. Cir. 1995), cert. den. 115 S.Ct. 2610 (1995).
  6. American Library Association v. Pataki.
  7. Net Crime Begs Question: Who to Call

Doing:

  1. Send an "anonymous" message email to me privately, using an anonymous mail OTHER than the one one the class web page -- but identify yourself in the text of the message.
You need a graphical browser to see the funny cartoon
Image linked with the kind approval of Bill Holbrook.

Optional

Seminar homepage.
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Next week's assignment.
Version 2.2. Last modified: Feb. 23, 1998