The E-Commerce and Tech Law Blog is a forum for practitioners and Bloomberg BNA editors to share ideas, raise issues, and network with colleagues on news, hot topics, and trends affecting e-commerce and technology law and regulations.
January 17, 2013
by Thomas O'Toole
Within the community that supports domain name policymaking at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the question of whether a particular matter is "policy" or "implementation" is an important one. "Policy" at ICANN must be the product of a consensus-driven process that involves all relevant members of the ICANN community. "Implementation" matters, on the other hand, might be adopted by the ICANN board of directors without involving ICANN's various constituencies to any great extent. ICANN is currently studying the "policy vs. implementation" question, and is looking to develop guidance to help it decide which matters should be referred to the entire ICANN community for policy work and which matters are mere implementation details that can be hendled on an expedited basis.
January 14, 2013
Several key competition issues are percolating to the surface as the world transitions from the public switched telephone networks to all-IP voice and data networks, from physical storefronts to websites, from paper-based to electronic media, from broadcasting to sharing: competition among the dwindling number of internet service providers, competition among electronic content distributors, competition for scarce IP addresses and domain names, and competition among online advertising platforms. Also in this space: the persistent "digital divide" and the free speech rights internet service providers and their customers.The sixteenth and final entry in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
Lawyers who make their living at the intersection of law and technology are among the most engaged, optimistic, and passionate attorneys I've had the pleasure to meet. We received dozens of comments offering insights about where technology is taking society. Also collected here: free speech online and consumer protection. The fifteenth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
January 11, 2013
The year 2012 saw law enforcement officials, businesses, and even candidates for political office embrace "big data" technologies. Many contributors remarked that, in 2013, "big data" will test an already creaky information privacy regime in the United States. The fourteenth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
Most observers see Congress again picking up cybersecurity as a policy priority in 2013. If Congress doesn't act, President Obama may very well impose his own cybersecurity program. Increasing levels of identity theft and other cybercrimes may lead courts, or the Federal Trade Commission, to fashion new data security standards of care for net-connected businesses. The thirteenth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
January 9, 2013
As Chico Escuela might have said, "Copyright lawyers been berry, berry good to me." Copyright law was again in 2012 a prolific source of cyberlaw policy issues to write about. Everyone is expecting more the same in 2013. The twelfth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
While lawmakers in the United States continued their painstaking examination of the need for online privacy regulation, the European Commission released a proposal for Europe's second set of privacy rules, the proposed General Data Protection Regulation. It's a doozy by American standards. The eleventh in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
January 8, 2013
Information privacy is a legal issue that continues to command attention in Washington. As it has for the past 20 years. Will 2013 be any different? The tenth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
January 7, 2013
Most folks in the internet community are passionate about keeping the government role in internet policymaking to an absolute minimum. They've held their own for the past few decades, but now that the internet has become such a great economic and social force, fending off pressure from governments to control how and where the internet works is a constant battle in the online industry. The ninth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
The one-two punch of content-sharing social networks and always-connected, location-aware cell phones has transformed the way we communicate with each other. Expressive and artistic speech, political speech, commercial speech, speech about the workplace, even speech about cute furry animals, have all moved into the social media space. Lawmakers and law enforcers are not far behind. The eighth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
January 4, 2013
According to trademark attorneys, the time for complaining about ICANN's new top-level domains initiative is over and the time for vigilance is at hand. The sixth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
Employer-side attorneys hope that 2013 will be the year they get the green light to use the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act against employees who take valuable digital information with them when they depart for another employer. The seventh in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
January 3, 2013
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, after a very long, messy, seemingly ad hoc, and at-times troubled gestation period, is about to midwife a large number of new top-level internet domains. Trademark owners will have their say in the next post. Today we hear from those who, for the most part, see positive change coming to the internet. The fifth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
Gridlock in Congress on privacy policy, a big case in Arizona testing the Federal Trade Commission's authority to create de facto national data security standards via Section 5 enforcement actions, and changes in key FTC leadership positions all suggest a busy 2013 for privacy at the agency. The fourth in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
To what extent are software patents throttling innovation in the online economy, and how will last year's policy changes in the patent system play out in 2013? The third in a series of short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
January 2, 2013
What is the outlook for privacy-related litigation in the Unites States? The second in a series collecting short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
What does the failure of the SOPA and PIPA copyright enforcement measures mean for lawmaking in this area in 2013? The first in a series collecting short takes from legal and business experts about the directions cyberlaw policy might take in 2013. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts sent us their thoughts.
This year we farmed out our annual cyberlaw predictions story to as many experts as we could identify, drawing from our subscriber lists, our advisory board, and our most-frequently consulted legal experts. Over 100 attorneys, law professors, online business executives, policy advocates and other cyberlaw experts responded, producing 307 separate assessments, predictions, or just plain complaints about any topic that fell under the general heading of cyberlaw.
Ninth Circuit Vacates Fair Use Finding in Righthaven Case
The Nation's First Privacy Goalie
Cyberlaw Predictions: Competition, Trademarks, Online Contracts
Georgia Bill Would Regulate Online Self-Help Publishers
Race Toward New gTLDs Finish Line Sparks Debate on ICANN's Policy Methods