Archive of closed CIS Cases that no longer are active.
Ampex Corp. filed a lawsuit against a "John Doe" Internet poster in Contra Costa County Court (Martinez) and issued a subpoena to Yahoo!
Students will work with officials from the California State Office of Privacy Protection to create a self-help guide for people who have been the victims of identity theft. California law provides some remedies to victims who may be subject to false arrest due to warrants issued for others who commit crimes and give the victim’s identifying information to authorities.
In 2002, the Cyberlaw Clinic wrote an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon in Brand X Internet Services, et al. v. Federal Communications Commission. The matter is now before the U.S.
In January 2003, the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued a request for comments (RFC) on proposed “Passenger and Aviation Security Screening Records”.
A Danish company that produced troll dolls (the ones with the crazy hair) lost its U.S. copyright when it failed to register as required in the 1960’s. Russ, a New Jersey company then began producing the trolls. The CTEA restored the Danish company’s lapsed copyright, and the company then sued Russ and obtained an injunction preventing it from selling any troll dolls.
CIS represents a young man who publishes a fan site about his friend (coincidentally a former Stanford student) named Joe Bay at JoeBay.org. The domain name attracted the attention of the on-line auction company eBay who sent the client a cease and desist letter claiming trademark infringement.
CIS Founder and Executive Director Professor Lawrence Lessig argued this constitutional challenge to the Copyright Term Extension Act before the United States Supreme Court on October 9, 2002. Eldred argues that the Constitution allows Congress to grant copyright only for “Limited Times” and as necessary to encourage authors to create works, and that
The Cyberlaw Clinic represents Emily Somma, the author of new Peter Pan book that tells children growing up isn't so bad. In After the Rain, A New Adventure for Peter Pan, present day children rescue Peter Pan from Neverland so he can grow up. J.M. Barrie's original Peter Pan books are in the public domain now, copyright having expired.
The Clinic represents a small businessman who sells auction software for eBay users. Upon request from the eBay auction site, the Google search engine company will not sell him or other auction software sellers advertising responsive to a 12 page list of keywords, including auction, and eBay.
The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act created a new performance royalty for compulsory licenses for webcasting, with rates to be determined in an arbitration proceeding before the Copyright Office, which would report to the Librarian of Congress, who was to make a final determination.
The clients have a small business auctioning on eBay quilts, shirts and the like from licensed fabric imprinted with Disney characters or Major League Baseball logos. After receiving several threats from the copyright holders, they filed a suit for declaratory judgment asking a court to find that their products were non-infringing works.
The CIS represents MAP, a 501(c)(3) drug policy advocacy organization. MAP maintains an online library of articles from over 3000 newspapers documenting how the War on Drugs is portrayed in the media, and encouraging people to write critical letters to the editor. Newspapers have challenged MAP’s right to maintain this archive under federal copyright law.
This case is about whether peer-to-peer file sharing technology is illegal to distribute simply because people can use it to infringe copyright. Twenty-nine of the world's largest entertainment companies have sued MusicCity, Consumer Empowerment and Grokster, distributors of a leading peer-to-peer file-sharing product, in federal court in Los Angeles.
This case involves attempts by Nymox, a Canadian pharmaceutical corporation, to learn the identities of several pseudonymous individuals. The action originated in a Quebec court, where limited pre-filing discovery may be permitted by the Court. The Quebec court issued an Order requiring Yahoo!, Inc. to release whatever information it had about each of the eleven named pseudonyms. Yahoo!
Stanford CIS represents domain name holders who register their URLs in good faith against challenges from trademark holders seeking rights to that domain name through ICANN's Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy or UDRP. To apply for pro bono legal services through the Stanford Cyberlaw Clinic, call 650-723-5674.
The CIS is assisting defense counsel for a man under criminal investigation for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by allegedly selling X-Box "mod chips." Government prosecutors claim that the mod chips are illegal under the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions.
Stanford CIS will appeal the conviction of a Los Angeles man for notifying the customers of his employer that the company’s computer services were vulnerable to hackers and directing the customers to information on how to repair the vulnerability. The man was convicted under 18 U.S.C. 1030 which makes it a crime to knowingly send information which causes damage to a computer system.