The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School is a leader in the study of the law and policy around the Internet and other emerging technologies.
By Christopher Sprigman • November 5, 2012 at 5:00 pm
We have a new post up on the Freakonomics blog about the dispute between Google and a group of European newspapers. Read more » about Who owns a link? Google vs. European publishers...
By Jennifer Granick • November 5, 2012 at 2:49 pm
Next week, the lame duck Congress will take up the issue of whether to extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act (FAA) of 2008. The House of Representatives passed a five year extention, but during the the floor debate on that bill, lawmakers demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding about how the FAA affects the privacy of Americans on American soil. Read more » about The FISA Amendments Act Authorizes Warrantless Spying on Americans
By Ryan Calo • October 25, 2012 at 11:22 am
I recently moved from San Francisco to Seattle. Among my concerns were (a) weather, (b) Mexican food, and (c) the technology sector. There is a sea of clouds outside my office right now and the best Mexican food in town ("El Camion") parks behind a Safeway in Ballard. But let me tell you: Seattle has not disappointed on technology.
Even setting aside the obvious (Microsoft, Amazon, Nintendo, the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, etc.), this city is wired. Here are five of my favorite examples: Read more » about Five Nonobvious Ways Seattle Is Wired
By Daniel Nazer • October 19, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Last week’s decision in Authors Guild v. HathiTrust – upholding the Mass Digitization Project (MPD) – was a big victory for fair use. The MDP is a project where university libraries and Google have together digitized over 10 million books to allow for full-text searches, preservation, and access for people with print disabilities. When the Authors Guild sued for copyright infringement, HathiTrust defended the suit by arguing that the MDP is fair use.
Judge Baer upheld the MDP. His decision recognizes that the project is a massive public good: it is a tool for scholarship, prevents the loss of our cultural heritage, and provides unparalleled access for the visually impaired. Significantly, he found that these educational purposes are “transformational” in a way that supports fair use. Read more » about Fair Use Prospers on Campus
By Center for Internet and Society • October 9, 2012 at 8:53 am
We are happy to announce the new 2012-2014 CIS Affiliates. The new affiliates are the following: Read more » about CIS Affiliates 2012-2014 Announced
By Chuck Cosson • October 4, 2012 at 2:17 pm
This is a short essay to introduce three topics I’ll be exploring in various ways, including writing, talking, and reading:
1) How metaphor powerfully shapes the beliefs we hold about the Internet - and is used by advocates seeking to shape the beliefs of others.
2) How the “cyberspace’ metaphor has outlived much of its usefulness, causes us to focus attention on the wrong things, and inaccurately describes how people use information technology. Read more » about A Tool Without a Handle
By Omer Tene • October 1, 2012 at 11:30 pm
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently decided in United States v. Skinner that police does not need a warrant to obtain GPS location data for mobile phones (see dicussion by Jennifer Granick here). Read more » about On government access to communications data
By Eric E. Johnson • September 24, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Some weeks ago I wrote a post, The Industry of Good Feelings, about Silicon Valley's unique esprit de corps – how it has long been the kind of place where industrial rivals say nice things about one another and even openly use one another's products.
At the end of that post, however, I noted that the spirit I described might be eroding. I wrote that I was worried intellectual property law "may be playing a role in making Silicon Valley less about hat tipping and more about fist clenching." Read more » about The Industry of Bad Feelings
By Omer Tene • September 20, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Much has been written over the past couple of years about “big data” (See, for example, here and here and here). Read more » about Big Data for All: Privacy and User Control in the Age of Analytics
By Omer Tene • September 19, 2012 at 9:32 pm
