Free Speech in Cyberspace

Fall 2001

Professor Jack M. Balkin

Provisional Syllabus 

1. Regulating Online Speech-- Technological End Runs

Readings

Hate Speech-- or, How easy is the Net to Regulate?

• Regulating the Net--The Issues Explained
  

• The Internet's New Borders (The Economist)
  
• Putting it in its Place (The Economist)
  
• Naughton, Yahoo! for Brave French Courts
  
• McCarthy, Yahoo Expert Backtracks
  
• Translation of Superior Court of Paris Opinion in LICRA and UEJF v. Yahoo! Inc. and Yahoo! France (The Yahoo! Case)
  
• McCarthy, U.S. Judge to Rule on Internet
  
• CDT Discussion of Jurisdictional Issues in Yahoo! Case
  
• Effect of French Court Order on California Company is Sufficient to Confer Jurisdiction
  
• French Human Rights Group Sues ISP's Over Failure to Censor U.S.-Based Hate Site (Action Internationale pour la Justice v. GCI Case)
  
• Lee, U.S. May Help Chinese Evade Net Censorship

What is a "True Threat" on the Internet?

• Planned Parenthood of Columbia/Willamette v. American Coalition of Life Activists, 244 F. 3d. 1007 (9th Cir 2001)(The "Nuremberg Files" Case) [Alternate version]
  

• Mirror of Nuremburg Files Web Site Alternate Version
  
• Volokh, A Lesson About Free Speech from the "Nuremberg Files" Web Site Case
  
• Morris, The "Nuremberg Files" Web Site: What Constitutes an Online Threat?
  
• Andrews, When is a Threat "Truly" a Threat Lacking First Amendment Protection? A Proposed True Threats Test to Safeguard Free Speech Rights in the Age of the Internet
  
• United States v. Alkhabaz,104 F. 3d 1492 (6th Cir. 1997) (The "Jake Baker" Case)
  
• Background on the Jake Baker Case

Additional Readings

• Lessig, The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach
  

• Global Networks, Local Values Symposium

2. On-line Liability: Defamation, Collateral Censorship, and Anonymity

Readings

Anonymous Speech

• ACLU of Georgia v. Miller
  

• Wallace: Nameless in Cyberspace: Anonymity on the Internet
  
• McIntyre v. Ohio State Elections Commission
  
• Elstein, AOL Sides with Anonymous Posters
  
• McVeigh v. Cohen, 983 F. Supp. 215 (D.D.C. 1998)
  
• In re 2TheMart Securities Litigation (Doe v. 2TheMart.com, Inc., 140 F.Supp. 2d 1088 (W.D. Wash. 2001))

Defamation and Collateral Censorship

• Balkin, Free Speech and Hostile Environments
  

• Cubby v. Compuserve, 776 F. Supp. 135 (S.D.N.Y. 1991)
  
• Stratton Oakmont v. Prodigy Services, Co, 1995 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 229, 1995 WL 323710, 23 Media L. Rep. 1794 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. May 24, 1995)
  
• Internet Service Provider Liability Exception 47 USC §230
  
• Zeran v. America Online (4th Cir. 1997) [Alternate version]
  
• Blumenthal v. Drudge, 992 F.Supp. 44 (D.D.C. 1998) [Alternate version]
  
• Kathleen R. v. City of Livermore,87 Cal.App. 4th 684 (2001)
  
• Felix Somm (Compuserve) Case
  
• Summary of Digital Millennium Copyright Act Liability Provisions

Additional Readings

• Digital Millenium Copyright Act

3. Is Software Speech?

Encryption

• Bernstein v. U.S. Dept. of Justice, 176 F.3d 1132 (9th Cir. 1999) [additional version]
  

• Junger v. Daley, 209 F.3d 481 (6th Cir 2000) [Westlaw]
  
• Lee Tien, Publishing Software as a Speech Act
  
• Robert C. Post, Encryption Source Code and the First Amendment

DeCSS

• Source Code As Speech Amicus Brief in 2600 Case (Universal City Studios v. Reimerdes)
  

• Harvard Berkman Center Open Law DVD/DeCSS Frequently Asked Questions List

Links and Rights to Link

• Kaplan, Copyright Decision Threatens Freedom to Link
  

• Kaplan, DVD Suit Questions Legality of Linking

The Right to Link and Deep Linking

• Kaplan, Is Linking Always Legal? The Experts Aren't Sure
  

• Kaplan, Ticketmaster Sues Again Over Links
  
• Kaplan, Legality of "Deep Linking" Remains Deeply Complicated

4. Distribution Architectures: Open Access and Freedom of Speech

Readings

• Lemley & Lessig, "Preserving the Architecture of the Internet in the Broadband Era," 48 UCLA L. Rev. 925 (2001)
  

• FTC Consent Orders, AOL-TimeWarner Merger
  
• MediaOne Group, Inc. v. County of Henrico, Virginia, 2001 WL 78886 C.A.4 (Va.),2001.
  
• AT&T Corp. v. City of Portland, 216 F.3d 871 C.A.9 (Or.),2000 [Alternate version]
  
• Broward County Open Access Ordinance held to violate First Amendment
  
• Comcast v. Broward County, 124 F.Supp.2d 685 (S.D. Fla. 2000)
  
• Marsh v. Alabama, 326 US 501 (1946)
  
• Harmon, Worries About Big Brother at America Online
  
• AOL Rules of User Conduct

Additional links

• Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001 (Tauzin-Dingell Bill)
  

• Time Warner v. FCC , 240 F.3d 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2001)(applying heightened scrutiny to ownership restrictions)
  
• Daniel Rubinfeld & Hal J. Singer, Open Access to Broadband Networks: A Case Study of the AOL/Time Warner Merger,16 Berk. Tech LJ 2, 631 (2001)

5. Intellectual Property and Freedom of Speech

Readings

Copyright

• Harper v. Row v. Nation Enterprises, 471 U.S. 539 (1985)
  

• Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, 510 U.S. 569 (1994)
  
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act, H.R. 2281
  
• SunTrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin ("The Wind Done Gone" Case)(lower court opinion)
  
• SunTrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin (11th Cir 2001)(vacating preliminary injunction)
  
• Eldred v. Reno, 99-5430 (D.C. Cir 2000) [additional version] [additional version]
  
• Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God, 227 F.3d 1110 (1999)
  
• Mark A. Lemley and Eugene Volokh, Freedom of Speech and Injunctions in Intellectual Property Cases, 48 Duke L.J. 2 (1998)
  
• Neil Netanel, Locating Copyright Law Within the First Amendment Skein, 54 Stanford L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2001)
  
• Fan Fiction Links

Database Protection and Freedom of Speech

• Feist Publications v. Rural Tel., 499 U.S. 340 (1991)
  

• Database Legal Protection
  
• Benkler, Constitutional Bounds of Database Protection: The Role of Judicial Review in the Creation and Definition of Private Rights in Information, 15 Berkeley L. & Tech. J. (2000).

Additional Readings

• Siva Vaidyanathan, Copyrights and Copywrongs, Chapter 4 ("Hep Cats and Copycats")
  

• Siva Vaidyanathan, Copyrights and Copywrongs, Chapter 5 ("The Digital Moment")
  
• Jessica Litman, Free Speech and Electronic Commerce
  
• Eric S. Raymond, The Cathedral and the Bazaar
  
• John Perry Barlow, The Economy of Ideas

6. Legal Protection for Anticircumvention Technologies-- The DeCSS Controversy

• Harvard Open Law DVD/DeCSS FAQ
  

• Universal Studios v. Reimerdies 82 F. Supp. 2d 211 (S.D.N.Y. 2000) [Alternate version]
  
• Universal Studios v. Corley (2d Cir. 2001)
  
• U. S. v. Sklyarov FAQ

Additional Readings

• Court papers and other documents at www.2600.org/dvd/docs/
  

• Berkman Center Open Law Page on DVD/DeCSS Litigation

7. Trademarks. Domain Names, and Freedom of Speech

Readings

• http://www.sucks500.com
  

• http://fuckgeneralmotors.com/
  
• Kaplan, Hacker Gadfly at Center of New Suit
  
• Kaplan, Does a Parody Site Go Too Far? (re: Doughney v. Peta)
  
• Domain Name Rights Coalition
  
• San Francisco Arts and Athletics, Inc., v. U.S. Olympic Committee, 483 U.S. 522 (1987)
  
• L.L. Bean, Inc. v. Drake Publishers, Inc., 811 F.2d 26 (1st Cir. 1987)
  
• Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. v. Faber, 29 F. Supp. 2d 1161 (C.D. Cal. 1998)
  
• Jews for Jesus v. Brodsky, 993 F. Supp. 282 (D.C.N.J. 1998).
  
• Playboy Enterprises v. Netscape Communications Corp., 55 F. Supp. 2d 1070 (C.D. Cal. 1999).
  
• Name.space, Inc v. Network Solutions, Inc., 202 F.3d 573 (2d Cir. 2000).
  
• National A-1 Adver., Inc. v. Network Solutions, Inc., 121 F. Supp. 2d 156 (D.C.N.H. 2000).
  
• OBH, Inc. v. Spotlight Magazine, Inc., 86 F. Supp. 2d 176 (W.D.N.Y. 2000).
  
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals v. Doughney, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 19028 (4th Cir.).
  
• ICANN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
  
• WIPO Arbitration and Mediation, Bruce Springsteen v. Jeff Burgar and Bruce Springsteen Club, Case No. D2000-1532

8. Privacy and Freedom of Speech

Readings

• Volokh, Freedom of Speech and Information Privacy: The Troubling Implications of a Right to Stop People From Speaking About You, 52 Stanford L. Rev. 1049 (2000)
  

• Paul M. Schwartz, Free Speech v. Information Privacy: Eugene Volokh's First Amendment Jurisprudence, 52 Stanford L. Rev. 1559 (2000) [additional location]
  
• US West v. FCC, 182 F.3d 1224 (CA10 1999)
  
• Videotape Privacy Protection (The Bork Bill)
  
• Bartnicki v. Vopper, 121 S.Ct. 1753 (2001)
  
• Abortioncams.com Website

Additional Readings

• Bell, Internet Privacy and Self-Regulation: Lessons from the Porn Wars
  

• Colloquy between Peter Swire and Tom Bell
  
• Online Privacy Bill Introduced
  
• FTC Fair Information Practices in the Electronic Marketplace Report
  
• Robert W. Hahn, An Assessment of the Costs of Proposed Online Privacy Legislation
  
• Peter Swire, New Study Substantially Overstates Costs of Internet Privacy Protection
  
• OECD Privacy Guidelines (1980)
  
• Existing Federal Privacy Legislation
  
• The Privacy Act (1974)
  
• United States v. Scarfo (The Key Logging Case) Criminal No. 00-404 (D.N.J.)
  
• Order of the Court in United States v. Scarfo
  
• EPIC Resources on Carnivore
  
• S. 197, Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act of 2001
  
• H.R. 89, Online Privacy Protection Act of 2001
  
• Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) Homepage
  
• EPIC and Junkbusters, Pretty Poor Privacy: An Assessment of P3P and Internet Privacy
  
• Smith, Web Bug FAQ

9. Regulating Obscene and Indecent Speech on the Internet

Readings:

"Community Standards" on the Internet

• U.S. v. Thomas, 74 F. 3d 701 (6th Cir. 1996) (Milipitas bulletin board case) [Additional version]
  

• Voyeur Dorm v. City of Tampa, 265 F.3d 1232 (11th Cir. 2001)

Digitization of Child Pornography

• Free Speech Coallition v. Reno, 198 F.3d 1083 (9th Cir. 1999) [Additional version]
  

• Free Speech Coallition v. Reno, rehearing denied, 220 F. 3d 1113 (9th Cir. 2000). [Additional version]

Regulation of Indecent Expression on the Internet

• FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978) [alternate version]
  

• Sable Communications of Cal., Inc. v. FCC, 492 U.S. 115
  
• Communications Decency Act (CDA)
  
• Reno v. ACLU (Reno I), 521 U.S. 844 (1997) (The CDA Case) [Additional version]
  
• ACLU v. Reno (Reno II), 217 F.3d 162 (3d Cir. 2000) (The COPA Case) [Additional version]

10. Filtering and Rating Architectures

Readings

• ACLU, Fahrenheit 451, Is Cyberspace Burning
  

• Balkin et al., Filtering the Internet, a Best Practices Model
  
• Lessig, What Things Regulate Speech
  
• Lessig, Testimony before COPA Commission
  
• COPA Commission Final Report

11. Mandatory Filtering in Schools and Libraries

Government Mandated Filtering

• Wagner, Filters and the First Amendment

Mandatory Filtering in Schools and Libraries

• Mainstream Loudoun v. Board Of Trustees Of Loudoun County Library, 24 F. Supp. 2d 552 (E.D. Va. 1998) [Additional source] [Additional source]
  

• Loudoun Library Board Decides Not to Appeal Filtering Decision
  
• Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)-- Final Version
  
• Court Documents in ALA v. United States
  
• Complaint in Multnomah County Public Library vs.United States of America
  
• Urofsky v. Gilmore, (4th Cir. 2000)(en banc)

Additional Background Reading

• America Library Association CIPA Website
  

• EFF ALA v. U.S. Archive
  
• EFF Censorware Page
  
• Mark S. Nadel, The First Amendment's Limitations on the Use of Internet Filtering in Public and School Libraries: What Content Can Librarians Exclude? 78 Texas L. Rev. (2000)

12. Regulating Spam

• David E. Sorkin, Technical and Legal Approaches to Unsolicited Electronic Mail, 35 U.S.F. L. Rev. 325 (2001)
  

• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17538.4, 17538.45 (2001) (California's "Anti-Spam" Law)
  
• Ferguson v. Friendfinder, Inc.
  
• State v. Heckel
  
• CompuServe, Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, Inc. 962 F. Supp. 1015 (S.D. Oh. 1997) [Alternate version]
  
• Intel Corp. v. Hamidi, 1999 WL 450944 (Cal. Super. April 28, 1999) (not published)
  
• David Post, Of Blackholes and Decentralized Lawmaking in Cyberspace, 2 Vand. J. Ent. L. & Prac. 70 (2000)
  
• Cisneros, Yesmail Fights Blacklist, Wired, July 18, 2000
  
• Olson, Congress, Critics Wrinkle Noses at Anti-Spam Bills
  
• House Judiciary Committee Adopts Antispam Bill

Additional Readings:

• SpamLaws.com
  

• The Realtime Blackhole List's Rationale
  
• Media3 Technologies v. MAPS and Vixie, 2001 U.S. Dist. Lexis 131-- January 2, 2001
  
• Linx.org Best Current Practice for Combatting Unsolicited Bulk Email Version 1.0, May 18, 1999
  
• John Marshall Law School website on regulation of unsolicited email
  
• Ferguson v. Friendfinder, No. 307309 (Cal. Superior Ct. 2000)
  
• Amaditz, Canning "Spam" in Virginia: Model Legislation to Control Junk E-Mail, 4 Va. J. L & Tech. 4 (Spring 1999)
  
• Kaplan, An Argument for "Netiquette" Holds Up in Court

13. Democracy on the Internet

Readings:

• Benjamin Barber, Three Scenarios for the Future of Technology and Strong Democracy, 113 Political Science Quarterly No. 4, 573 (1998-1999)
  

• Sunstein, "The Daily We," from Republic.com
  
• Responses to Sunstein
  
• Fallows, Information Zones

Resources

Key First Amendment and Copyright Decisions

• Abrams v. United States (1919)
  

• American Booksellers Association v. Hudnut (1985)
  
• Basic Books Inc v. Kinko's Graphics Corp. (1991)
  
• Beauharnais v. Illinois (1952)
  
• Bigelow v. Virginia (1975)
  
• Board of Trustees of the State University of New York v. Fox (1989)
  
• Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
  
• Branzburg v. Hayes (1972)
  
• Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music (1994)
  
• CBS v. FCC (1981)
  
• Central Hudson Gas and Electric v. Public Service Commission (1980)
  
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
  
• Cohen v. California (1971)
  
• Cox Broadcasting v. Cohn (1975)
  
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)
  
• FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)
  
• Feiner v. New York (1951)
  
• Florida Star v. B.J.F. (1989)
  
• Freedman v. Maryland (1965)
  
• Gallela v. Onassis (2nd Cir. 1973)
  
• Gertz v. Welch (1974)
  
• Ginzburg v. United States (1966)
  
• Grayned v. Rockford (1972)
  
• Hague v. CIO (1939)
  
• Harper and Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises (1985)
  
• Hustler v. Falwell (1988)
  
• Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico (1982)
  
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967)
  
• Lovell v. Griffin (1938)
  
• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974)
  
• Miller v. California (1973)
  
• National Broadcasting v. United States (1943)
  
• Near v. Minnesota (1931)
  
• Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart (1976)
  
• New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
  
• New York Times v. United States (1971)
  
• New York v. Ferber (1982)
  
• Paris Adult Theatre I. v. Slaton (1973)
  
• Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators' Association (1983)
  
• Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)
  
• Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico (1986)
  
• R.A.V. v. St. Paul (1992)
  
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1969)
  
• Reno v. ACLU (1997)
  
• Rice v. Paladin Enterprises (4th Cir. 1997)
  
• Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia (1980)
  
• Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia (1995)
  
• Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York (1996)
  
• Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
  
• Terminiello v. Chicago (1949)
  
• Texas v. Johnson (1989)
  
• Turner Broadcasting v. FCC (1997)
  
• United States v. O'Brien (1968)
  
• United States v. Progressive (7th Cir. 1979)
  
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976)
  
• Whitney v. California (1927)
  
• Wisconsin v. Mitchell (1993)
  
• Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting (1977)

Telecommunications Law

• Federal Communications Commission
  

• Telecomunications Act of 1996
  
• Benton Foundation 1996 Act Homepage
  
• International Journal of Communications Law and Policy

Internet Civil Liberties and Democracy Sites

• UCLA Internet Related Cases and Statutes
  

• World Wide Web Consortium
  
• Electronic Frontier Foundation
  
• Center for Democracy and Technology
  
• Electronic Privacy Information Center
  
• American Civil Liberties Union
  
• Voters Telecommunications Watch
  
• Benton Foundation

Freedom of Speech Sites

• Boston College's Library of Court Decisions for the Freedom of Speech in the U.S.
  

• EFF Online Censorship and Free Expression Page

Cyberlaw Recources

• Cyberlaw Online Resource Guide

Listservs and Headlines

• Benton, Up-for-Grabs Communications Headlines (daily headlines on Internet and telecom policy and law)
  

• Cornate, Tech News Law and Policy (daily headlines on Internet and telecom policy and law)
  
• Quicklinks (daily headlines on developments in Internet and telecom law and policy worldwide)