THE INTERNET AND THE LAW

intellectual property law
- protects ideas (unlike physical objects)
- provides penalties for abusing another party's famous marks, copy, 
	or inventions
- separated into copyright law, patent law, trademark law

COPYRIGHT LAW: protects expression of ideas
- title 17 of the us code
- principally constituted by the copyright act of 1976 (rights of 
	copyright holders, doctrine of fair use)
- digital millenium copyright act (dmca), TEACH act of 2002 (distance 
	learning), focus on online communication
- once an idea is fixed in tangible form, it is eligible for copyright
	protection
	- categories include literary works, musical works, dramatic works,
	pantomime/choreographic works, pictorial/graphic/sculptural works,
	motion pictures and audiovisual works, sound recordings, archi-
	tectural works
- crucial terms are "expressed" and "fixed" - intangible things like
	processes, concepts, principles, or discoveries, cannot be 
	copyrighted, only a tangible expression of an intangible thing can
	be copyrighted.
	- logo example (idea for great logo, but never create it, you can't
		claim to own that idea)
	- also cannot copyright facts, titles, names, or short phrases
- nothing to register a copyright - once in fixed form, it's automatic
- can use (c) symbol
- officially register with US copyright office
- good for life of the author plus 70 years
- copy right - only author has the right to copy
- can use copyrighted materials if your use constitutes "fair use"
	- determined by four factors
		- purpose and character of use - see pg 409 [criticism, comment,
			news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research]
		- nature of the work - is the original work worthy of 
			copyright protection
		- relevant amount - 10% is accepted as fair use
		- effect on the market
- complications of the internet
	- hyperlinks make it easy to build composite webpages from many
		different sites
	- <img> tag and src attribute
		- actual image isn't on your webserver, but appears on your site
		- copyright infringement? law isn't clear
- DMCA limited copyright infringement liability for ISP's and 
	higher education institutions
- TEACH act of 2001 - special provisions for online distance
	educators - can use copyrighted works, in a limited fashion, on
	servers

TRADEMARK LAW
	- logo, acronym, word, colorscheme, combination of sounds, or 
		any other symbolic device used to distinguish a product
		as unique.  (slogans)
	- trademarks can endure forever, unlike copyrights or patents
	- domain name registration & cybersquatting
		- anticybersquatting consumer protection act protects
		companies against those who profit through bad faith
	- ^TM = trademark, (R) = registered trademark with government

PATENT LAW: specific to processes and machines
	- patent on KFC batter recipe
	- product must serve some *useful* purpose, and must be
		explicitly detailed
	- internet doesn't affect patent law, but since ideas
		can be communicated so seamlessly, it does cause some 
		conern
	- company workers can easy send internal ideas to outsiders

FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES
	- unpopular, controversial, or offensive communications
		- cyberstalking
		- no laws preventing spam
		- hate speech/hate literature
			- protected in general, although ISP's can make their own
			rules
	- indecent, obscene communications
		- clinton passed the communications decency act in 1996
			- ensured that existing laws barring obscene material
				also applied to the internet
			- and criminalized the display or transmission of
				indecent material where children might encounter it
	- controversies over filtering devices (eg in libraries)