Customer Reviews

Cyberspace and the Law: Your Rights and Duties in the On-Line World

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Net Law" (cf. BKNLHLUI.RVW) was written for the lawyer. "SysLaw" (cf. BKSYSLAW.RVW) was written for the layman, rather than lawyer, but was still aimed at sysops rather than the common herd. This book fills that space, and is the first I can recall that does so.

Chapter one provides a very brief description of cyberspace, starting with William Gibson's invention of the term, running through various different electronic entities, and including some basic online activities. Privacy, and particularly the Electronic Communications Privacy Act as applied to the Steve Jackson Games case, is the topic of chapter two. The chapter ends with a rather odd look at encryption. Eventually getting around to PGP's problems with ITAR (the International Traffic in Arms Regulations), the book seems to state that PGP should be avoided because simple possession of it may be illegal. Since the book is based entirely on US law, it is obviously aimed at an American audience, and the issue of export does not appear to be mentioned. Contracts are the subject of chapter three, mostly dealing with common law.

Chapter four covers copyright. I must say that I am always amused by the wording of the American First Amendment; that government shall make no laws regarding the abridgement of freedom of speech or press; since there are laws about defamation, fraud, and pornography. These, and free speech, are dealt with in chapter five. Considerations of prurient material are discussed in significantly more detail in chapter six, and I must say that this is one of the most informative and even-handed explanations of the topic in any book reviewed to date. Chapter seven closes off the book with a grab bag of potentially illegal computer related activities. The intent seems to be to warn users about apparently innocuous actions that could bring them afoul of the law. As usual, there is a section on computer viruses, and, as usual, it isn't very good. Appendix A provides a good list of contacts for legal and paralegal interest groups. Other appendices list various US statutes examined in the book.

While this work once again limits itself to the US, and fails to note the international nature of cyberspace, it does provide its information in a readable and accessible form. The authors do not always deliver on their promise to avoid legal jargon (such as "color of law"), but all the contents can be understood by the intelligent and determined lay reader. Where legal niceties are not completely delineated they would only be of interest to other lawyers anyway.

Though significantly outdated, this work provides an excellent - if not exemplary and superb - overview to many of the broad legal considerations of online participation. While published before major legislation in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s pushed the boundaries of cyber-law, the authors provide an excellent explanation of historical considerations and concerns regarding activity online and enter into very understandable conversations that take into account general legal concerns and observations. They predict (accurately) many of the problems that online (and later Internet) participants would have with regards to intellectual property (this section alone is well worth the purchase!), libel and "free speech", and general rights and responsibilities. I strongly recommend this book, especially for the lay-man who is also generally new to social networking and the Internet; the authors present material in a very relate-able fashion making it approachable by those who are first-timers and wish to have their concerns properly addressed.

This book offers a good introduction to legal matters in the internet to people in any of the following situations:

1. They are familiar with the internet but have no law studies.
2. They have studied legal matters but don't know how to apply them to the internet.

If you are not in any of these cases, the book would be somehow difficult to understand.

Though the internet is a worldwide network, the book deals only with the US law; moreover, it recognizes the need for updating (edited: 1994). So, you should later go to another source for country-specific or updated information (there is plenty of books and the internet itself). And, due that the internet is always changing, you will have to update the information without regarding the book you read.

This book has a copyright date of 1994. The Communications Decency Act was passed in 1996. The DMCA was passed in 1998. The Patriot Act was passed in 2001. This book is out of date.