Customer Reviews

Internet and the Law: Legal Fundamentals for the Internet User

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Overview: Not so much a book about the Internet as a 200 page intellectual property nutshell, this book is an outstanding resource for anyone who needs a refresher course in (or, for that matter, an introduction to) intellectual property. It falls short in providing substance on the legal issues as they relate to the Internet; instead, it hopes to acquaint the Internet user with intellectual property law. Buy this book if you are looking for a thorough I.P. primer; do not buy it if you are looking for a comprehensive treatment of legal issues on the Net.

The full text of this review is online at: http://www.redstreet.com/readingroom/reviews/internetlaw.htm

_Internet_ fills a much needed void in providing a succinct overview of intellectual property and libel liability for the lay public, particularly as it relates to the electronic dissemination of information. The hypothetical examples (familiar to law school students) provide illustrations of what potential carelessness could cause in a humorous yet only mildly farfetched style.

The book is subdivided into several short and roughly independent sections. Some aspects of intellectual property yield overlapping rights and so it begins with distinguishing types of rights and to what they apply. Some, such as copyrights, trademarks and patents are covered under federal statute. Others may be primarily matters of interest in state courts. Copyright is probably the most frequently sought and encountered legal protection in intellectual property. It is also one of the more potentially convoluted rights because a single work (such as a motion picture) can have multiple holders of rights, and in the United States can be extended to an author by "work for hire" attribution rather than actual composition. Because the Internet has very wide range, the international implications are introduced as well. Trademarks provide a source of confusion for many people because while widely encountered, they are seldom intimate in the manner that one might imagine writing a novel or short-story for publication. The treatment is spartan (although also introducing unfair competition), reflecting the intended audience of business-persons to whom trademarks are frequently encountered.

The section on patents -- my own most familiar area of law -- although brief, provides a useful business perspective on a technically difficult and nonintuitive area of law. It includes discussion of software patents -- an area of much confusion since algorithms in themselves are not patentable. In the wake of events since _Internet_ was published, including the case _State_Street_Bank_ that knocked down a long-standing taboo on business-methods as patentable subject matter, and recent statutory changes on future publication of applications, an update of this chapter would be welcome. Following this is a chapter on trade secrets -- another but very different means to protect technical information rights.

Property rights are transferrable -- consider that ownership conveys right of alienation (e.g., to sell), possession conveys right of exclusion (e.g., to sue trespassers), custody conveys a conditional right to hold (e.g., collateral). The chapter on assignment and licensing presents an important source of information for Internet users regarding the identity of the rights owners for elements that people may wish to use. This is especially relevant in the area of software exchange, in which industry efforts to protect interests by means such as shrinkwrap licensing have encountered difficulty.

Before printing example application forms for copyrights and trademarks (patents seem to be treated by a "kids, don't try this at home" exclusion), a very relevant overview on defamation is presented. Although common-law libel was virtually nullified in the States by the Warren Court in _NYTimes_v._Sullivan_, the Internet is both an international forum and a quasi-anonymous, and consequently businesses should be aware of potential litigation in jurisdictions where libel laws are more severely enforced as well as difficulty in identifying the proper defendant. In all, an excellent overview on electronic-media law for the time-conscious business executive.